Life's Changes
by 4EverFan
Summary: A girl with extraordinary abilities is spotted by Dr.Tezla and is forced to work for him.Her talent becomes a useful tool for both teams and she discovers powers she didn't know she had.Will everything work out in the end?You'll have to read and find out
1. Chp1 Exposed talent

"_Hello?_ _Earth to Brooke! Anybody there_?"

My eyes suddenly became focused enough to determine my whereabouts. I was in my best friend's

house. I could tell immediately because of the completely 80's wallpaper that was pasted all over

the living room walls.

"Hey. Did you finally decide to come back?"

I looked over towards the voice and realized that my best friend was sitting beside me with either

a sarcastic, curious, or angry look in her eyes. I seriously hoped it was just anger.

"Well? Why did you zone out like that? What were you thinking about?"

I stifled a laugh. Definitely curious.

"Sorry Stace. It won't happen again." I tried to start up a different conversation when I finally

remembered what I was here for.

"So, we were studying right? Okay, I think I'm definitely going to fail Mathematics. How 'bout you?"

She didn't answer. Stacie was adamant in her refusal to change the subject.

"Not joking, Brooke."

I sighed. I knew Stacie was just trying to be helpful by having me express my thoughts to someone

to lighten the load but she didn't know that this time, I wasn't going to give in.

"I'm fine Stace. Don't worry about me. I can handle things myself." I said this to her with as much

boredom as I could muster to make sure she didn't press the subject further. I only hoped that

what I said was true. I could handle this, _right?_ I wasn't so sure.

She bought it and I immediately felt a huge weight being dropped off of my shoulders.I didn't have to

worry anyone when there wasn't anything for them to worry _about. _At least, I didn't think it was that

serious. I knew that as soon as I told her what I saw, she would have been freaking out and possibly

trying to send me to a shrink.

We started studying and decided to call it quits when I thought that my mind would collapse from

the weight of all the math problems that filled in every gap in my brain.

"I'll text you later, Brooke. See you tomorrow in-",there was a slight pause when Stacie did a fake

shiver,"Ms.Collen's class."

We both broke out into a fit of giggles which abruptly changed into laughter when she pretended

to be Ms.Collen's by scrunching up her nose and speaking in a high pitch. Stacie had her moments

when she could make you laugh about anything. She knew she could brighten my mood and she

succeeded.

* * *

I walked home with my head full of Stacie's laughter echoing in my ears which caused my mood

to be extremely happy. I was absentmindfully humming a song as I made my way down the mud

stricken sidewalk to my home with five more blocks to go.I never minded the long walk because

it gave me time to be alone and to study what I really enjoyed-cars.

I took my edition of Extreme Racing out from the bottom of my backpack. I felt self-conscious about

it, mainly because I was a girl and I didn't want anyone to know that I was in to something like

that.

I was so absorbed into the chapter that I was stunned that I had an abrupt sensation to move to one

side. As soon as I did, a car suddenly zoomed past my peripheral vision and I realized that I had

been a second away from getting crushed by an SUV-and I didn't even look away from my book!

A shiver ran down my back that was so big, it made my teeth clatter against each other. I suddenly

felt like there was eyes watching me. I looked around and, of course, there was no one there. I let out a breath of air that I hadn't realized I was holding. I was so glad no one saw that impossible moment.

They would probably be even more weirded out than I felt, if that was possible.

I still felt the eyes of someone on my back and it made me shiver again.

_Calm down,Brooke,_I told myself. _You're just being paranoid._

Even though I knew there was no one watching, I ran the rest of the way home.

Little did I know that someone _was_ watching me, and video taping everything that had happened.

* * *

"Dr. Tezla will want to look into this." Gig shut off the camera and floated away, to tell Dr. Tezla about his recent discovery.


	2. Chp 2 A Vision

As soon as I got home, I ran up the stairs to my room, skipping three steps at a time. I was so

confused and I needed time to relax.

I collapsed onto my bed and immediately turned on the TV after searching for a few minutes for the

stupid remote. I was so stressed that I didn't pay attention to the show that appeared across the

screen. I didn't even care, either. I just wanted something to do so I didn't have to think about

what had happened just previously.

I almost achieved my goal until I heard the squeal of tires outside my window. I immediately

remembered that SUV that almost collided with my body.

I immediately began to cry. I don't know what made me start or why but I just started crying. It

abruplty changed to sobbing and it took a lot of strength just to stop myself from shaking.

_What was wrong with me? How could I possibly know that there was something that was about to_

_hit me? I could have-no, I SHOULD have gotten crushed but I didn't. Why not?_

My brain went into overload trying to piece together my newly found problem.The only thought that

came to me was that I had some kind of power to see the future, or at least _feel_ like I know what's

going to happen. But I instantly threw that theory out the window. _Me? With a power? That _was

so not me. I never had any talent ever since I was three and I certainly didn't have one now.

After I thought about it, I came up with a solution-Everyone sometimes feels like something is

wrong, I simply just had one of those moments, which happened to save my life. I knew that was

true- it _HAD_ to be true.

I figured I had everything worked out so I decided to take a well needed nap...until my phone started

ringing. I grabbed my cell and saw a small envelope meaning I had a text message from Stacie.

It read:

**OMG R U OK? **

I frowned. Then I typed:

**Of course. Y?**

She replied:

**U seemed like U were in a trance 2day**

I choked back another sob that had formed in my throat. I remembered what I had seen at

Stacie's house while we were studying. I knew she was still worried about me and I wanted her

to know that I was fine. I just hoped _I _believed that.

**I'm fine, Stace. Don't worry bout me.**

There was a long few minutes when I knew she was trying to decide what to say next.

**Alright. If U wanna talk I'm here.**

I had to smile at that. She always had my back ever since we met in third grade. I felt like I

owed her an explanation but I just couldn't tell her, at least not now.

I turned off my phone and went back to taking my nap. I actually fell asleep pretty quick considering

everything I had went through. But I didn't have a normal dream. In my unconscious state, I saw the

vision I had at Stacie's.

"_You should be with us gig!" A male blonde was speaking to apparently no one. He had on a _

_racing helmet that seemed to be white with a dark orange visor, but my vision was a little blurry_

_and I could have been wrong about that._

_He was in a car and racing at an angle. I couldn't tell where he was, some kind of big building._

_There was a robot looking thing in the seat next to him who I immediately liked. The robot was _

_sparking and he seemed to be pretty kind, even though he was a robot and all. He didn't seem as_

_menacing as I thought a robot would be._

_"I wish I could be." I saw a different type of robot, not as big as the other sparking robot, but _

_looking just as friendly. He must have been gig. Gig suddenly crossed two cables that were making sparks and I knew _

_that as soon as he did so, it would cause a major explosion.I tried to yell stop but of course, he_

_couldn't hear me. There was a great flash of orange and yellow. I closed my eyes. I knew the _

_little robot was long gone. I opened my eyes and I saw a car was speeding away from the _

_explosion with two people seated inside._

_Then my vision changed to that same young man with blonde hair who seemed to zoom through_

_a portal type thing with rings that surrounded it. The whole place exploded after he entered and he_

_stopped outside a big door in a place that was white and purple. Some little purple robots, similar _

_to gig, came and floated around the young man's car._

_"Sparky, press the ED-AH!" Some robot people, also made in white and purple, carried him out of _

_his car before he could finish his sentence. But apparently, the robot knew what to do._

_He pressed the button and landed somewhere in a desert. _

_My vision changed back to the ones in the speeding car. _

_"He could only do what he was progammed to do." It was a middle-aged man with some kind of _

_metal brace surrounding his body: his chin, arms, and legs._

_There was a woman beside him who gasped as he said this and I immediately felt a wave of regret_

_and loss for this little robot._

I opened my eyes and I waited for my eyes to adjust to the dark room. I was back in my bedroom

and I remembered that I had fallen asleep.

"Woah". I said it out loud and I couldn't help it. My vision was so clear this time. I didn't know who

the heck these people were or where these visions were coming from. All I knew was that I was

suddenly gifted with a power for seeing things that were happening and it was _so_ creeping me out!


	3. Author's Note

**I just wanted to say thank you, all of y'all who sent me those reviews! You don't**

**know **_**how **_**much I love reading about how much you enjoy my stories. Sorry if they're**

**not as good as you would expect. Hey, I'm only 13. At least I'm trying! Anyways, thanks**

**for your support, please feel free to show criticism, too!! **

**Peace, Love, and Writing **

**4EverFan **


	4. Chp 3 Clearing things up

"Brooke! Get up already! You'll be late!" I could hear my mom screaming at me to wake up but

I really didn't want to. I had an awful night and I wanted more time to snooze.

_"BROOKE!" _

I groaned and muttered "I'm up" as loud as I could without making my head spin. I kept having

visions all night and it was making me very worried.

I sat up very groggily and I rubbed my eyes. My body wanted to lay back down but my mind told

me to get up. Stupid mind.

"What are you hungry for?" At least my mom wasn't yelling anymore.

"Just cereal mom." If I had to force something down, I wanted to be able to _hold_ it down.

I took a quick shower and threw on my uniform for school- a dark grey plaid skirt that reached

down to my ankles, a plain white shirt, and half grey and black knee socks. It didn't get much

worse than that.

"So, how did you-woah." I looked up and noticed that my mother was staring at me with one of

those you-look-like-you-fell-out-of-bed looks. I really wished that that was what had happened.

"Everything okay?" I hated that I couldn't tell her what was wrong. That would be a whole different

problem. I played in my mind what would happen:

_"Oh, by the way mom. Did I mention that I keep having visions of people racing in other worlds?_

No way. I was not going to do that. I would so be sent to a shrink after that.

"Yeah mom. Every thing's good. I just didn't get much sleep last night." At least that was true.

"Oh, alright. Here's your cereal. I looked at the bowl of cheerios and I fought off the urge to get

sick.

I ate it one cheerio at a time and then dumped the bowl in the sink.

"Gotta go, mom. See you later,k?" I didn't wait to hear a reply, I took off. I headed straight for school

on my bike and soon after I left Stacie rolled up beside me.

"Hey sleepy head. You look rough." Did I mention that she always went straight to the point?

"Oh, really? I hadn't noticed." I flashed a smile to show her that I was just being sarcastic. She

didn't buy it.

"Seriously Brooke." She stopped her bike right in front of me and I had to stop or I would

have collided with her.

"What's eating you?" I sighed. Then I blurted out everything and after I finished I felt really good

to get it off my chest.

We were silent for some time. Then she spoke up,"Wow."

We both started laughing. We heard the school bell ringing in the distance a couple yards in front

of us.

We raced toward the school building and didn't say a word about any of it until after school was

over. We met up at her place and tried to figure everything out.

* * *

"He was right. I can't believe it." Kurt Wylde was standing so close to the two girls that he could

hear every word they had said. He was crouched behind a nearby bush and had recorded their

conversation.

"Everyone is gonna want to hear about this." He jumped into his car and sped off towards the

others to show them what he had heard.

* * *

**I know it's still pretty complicated but it will clear up in the next chapter, I promise.**

**Peace, Love, and Writing**

**4EverFan **


	5. Chp 4 The Hidden Secret

**Hey, I want you guys to know if you don't already, that my whole story takes place after**

**the Ultimate Race. This chapter takes place in the newly built Acceledome.**

* * *

"Dr. Tezla, you might want to examine this."

Gig turned to face Dr. Tezla to see if he acknowledged his statement. Dr. Tezla had on his

purple shades and Gig couldn't really tell if he had heard him or not. Gig was about to restate the

sentence when Dr. Tezla held out his hand.

Apparently, Dr. Tezla's mind was eslewhere and he wasn't really interested in what Gig had for

him.

Dr. Tezla was remembering what had happened that last couple weeks. It had been a month since

Vert went missing and the whole team was busy trying to find him. They went on daily searches

but they never found him.They never gave up, either. He was also remembering when he searched

through the rubble from the explosion. He had found bits and pieces of Gig's body which he knew

were beyond repair. So, he decided to build his own robot to match Gig. After many tries, he

suceeded.

"Dr. Tezla, this is important." Gig floated over more closely so he knew that he was heard.

Dr. Tezla looked over at him and sighed.

"I'm sorry, Gig. Please continue." He made sure Gig knew that he was listening.

"I know you told me to go and watch out for your neice and I did. She's very well cared for in her

foster home. I decided to video tape her to prove it to you.

Gig took the tape and inserted it into the computer. Instantly, an image of Brooke showed up

across the screen. She was walking home from Stacie's house and was busy reading

Extreme Racing.

Dr. Tezla smiled. He knew that she had inherited her love of cars from her father and himself.

He immediately felt a wave of remorse for Brooke. Dr. Tezla remembered his brother, the way he

laughed and made everyone smile just from being around him. He wished that Brooke had had the

chance to really get to know him before he died.

He watched as Brooke absent-mindedly walked over onto the road. He knew she would get killed

if he didn't do something. Dr. Tezla grabbed his coat and was about to walk out the door when

Gig stopped him.

"Sir, she's in no danger. Watch."

He highly doubted that but decided to watch anyway. He watched as an SUV zoomed past and

he really thought that she was dead but she was perfectly fine. Actually, she never stopped

reading or even glance away from the book. He couldn't believe that.

Gig replayed the scene in slow motion. He noticed that at the last second, she moved over to the

side like it was completely normal. But then, she looked behind her and watched the vehicle

disappear. He saw her confused expression and the way she kept glancing behind her. He then

watched her run the rest of the way home and the screen went black.

* * *

He realized that this was no run in the park for her either. He knew that Brooke was scared and

why shouldn't she be? She was only sixteen and she was suddenly able to tell when things were

happening. He knew that no one should have to go through that.

He desperately wanted to hug her and comfort her in any way he could but that was impossible.

She didn't even know who he was. He'd have to take it slow.

Dr. Tezla sighed. It was time for her to know the truth, no matter how much it hurt and he knew

it would seriously hurt her to know that that wasn't her real family.

"But first, I need to alert the drivers and tell them what's going on."


	6. Chp 5 Kurt's Doubts

"And this helps us, how?" Mark Wylde leaned against the seat and propped his feet up on the

table.

Kurt rolled his eyes. Since they've been out looking for Vert, he and his brother have been a lot

closer. It seems as though everything else was just the past and they were okay with it. Though

he still thought that Mark was an airhead.

"Dr. Tezla. What's so important about a sixteen year old girl?" Karma stated the exact question

that was on everyones mind.

Dr.Tezla had just replayed the video to all the drivers in one of their normal meetings. Usually

their meetings were about what parts they needed to get to finish building the new and improved

Acceledome, but today they were all glad for a change in discussion.

"That girl-" Dr. Tezla paused for a brief moment, seeming to decide if he should go on,"is my

niece."

Everyone was shocked. No one knew a thing about Dr. Tezla. His family, his friends, his past

life. Now they were itching to get to know a few things about him.

He realized why they were so silent. They were expecting him to go on, which made him smile.

"Her father was my brother, who past away shortly after she was born." Dr. Tezla was immediately

filled with regret and loss for his brother. He took a few moments to collect himself before he

went on.

"Her name is Brooke. Her mother gave her up to a foster home after he had passed. She doesn't

know about any of that or about me. But things have to change and her life has just taking a turn

for the-"

He was interrupted by Kurt who suddenly said,"You are not going to have her work for you,

are you?"

Everyone was quiet. After a while, the tension was eating at Kurt. He knew Dr.Tezla should say

something soon or he was about to explode.

"Yes."

Everyone gasped at the same time and started talking at once. Kurt decided that he had heard enough. If this girl was so important, well, he had to find out for himself. He grabbed a tape recorder and headed out the door. He had to see why this girl was so important. How could she possibly help them?


	7. Chp 6 A Shocking Discovery

**Okay. Remember in Chp. 3 at the end? Kurt was hiding in the bushes and recorded **

**their conversation? Well, this is exactly what happened.**

Kurt was driving away from the Acceledome. He had many thoughts racing through his mind and

it took great effort just to pay attention to his driving.

_Dr.Tezla was forcing a sixteen year old girl to work for him? That was insane. She didn't even _

_know who Dr.Tezla was, or who any of them were. How could she say yes to coming with us?_

_Unless..._

Kurt decided against it. _Dr.Tezla wouldn't kidnap her, would he?_ He shuddered at the thought.

Still, he had to see why she was so important. So she dodged an SUV. So what? That doesn't

make her perfect.

He rounded a corner and realized the street as the one in the video. He checked his watch.

7:25. He hoped that he wasn't too late.

He jumped out of his car and hid under a bush that was right next to the sidewalk. He waited

for a few minutes and still no sign of her. He was about to give up when he turned and saw

two girls heading his way. He ducked as low as he could and watched them.

The older girl stopped right in front of Kurt and only the bush was between them. He watched in

total silence, afraid to even move or be spotted. He took out his recorder and pressed play.

"Seriously Brooke. What's eating you?" The older girl questioned Brooke. He didn't know what she

was talking about but what he heard next suprised both of them.

Brooke was confessing about all her visions by talking very low and fast. Even then, he heard

every word. She told the older girl about the SUV, the dreams she was having about the mysterious

drivers through other worlds.

The older girl said "Wow" and they were both laughing. He didn't know why that was so funny.

It was exactly true, all of it. He gasped and hoped they hadn't heard;thankfully the school bell

rang a few yards away and drowned it out.

"He was right. I can't believe it."

Kurt pressed STOP and shoved the recorder in his jacket pocket."Everyone's gonna want to hear

about this."


	8. Chp 7 The Recording

"This is unreal." Kurt Wylde was in his car and heading back to the Acceledome. He kept replaying

the recorded message that he had taped just a couple minutes ago.

_"...and then I was in a swamp realm. There was this giant, oh I don't know what it was but it made_

_vines come out and try to trap the drivers. Everyone was captured except for this one male driver._

_What was his name...oh Nolo! Nolo seemed to be a really good driver. He made sure to stay in the _

_middle of the track. He kept repeating, stay in the groove. Anyway, he made it through and won_

_some kind of computer chip thingy with the swamp realm symbol on the front. Then my vision _

_just faded out, you know?"_

He stopped the tape and replayed that part over a couple times to make sure he heard right.

_How the heck did she know it was Nolo? She couldn't have met him before, could she? _Kurt

was so confused and he hoped that Dr. Tezla would be able to clear things up for him.

"Yo Kurt, where you been?" Nolo questioned Kurt as he walked into the room. Kurt had to smile

at that. He always thought of Nolo as his older brother. Nolo seemed to really care about

his team.

"Just driving around." He really didn't want him to know just yet about what he recorded, in case

Nolo wasn't against Brooke coming to work with them. Kurt knew it was wrong for Dr.Tezla to

make her work there. He wasn't sure if Nolo was with him or against him.

Nolo nodded his head and seemed to understand. The wheel was destroyed so there was never

any chances to race anymore. So he knew how most of them felt. Racing was their lives and it

was suddenly taken away from them. Nolo suddenly felt that he really wanted it to have been him

that destroyed Gelorum.

Kurt walked off and headed straight for the control room, then stopped abruptly.

_Why should I give this to Dr.Tezla anyway? He'll just try to convince us further to have her work_

_here. That's wrong, isn't it?_

He suddenly had a headache and he rubbed his temples, trying to concentrate. _What if she could_

_help us? What if her ability to see past the future would be able to actually help us here?_

He suddenly decided not to do it. Kurt took out the tape and was about to send it crashing into the wall

when Mark Wylde had quietly walked up to Kurt and snatched away the tape.

"Hum, I wonder what could possibly be on this tape? I guess I'm going to have to look into this

problem." He took the recorder out of Kurt's hands, put the tape back into it, and pressed play.

The voices of the two girls could be heard and their conversation was echoing through the room.

"I think Dr.Tezla will want to hear this, don't you?" Mark held up the tape in a mocking way. Kurt

tried to grab it but Mark was too fast and he tossed the tape over to his other hand.

"Going to have to be faster than that." Mark laughed and walked out of the room, towards the

control room and he knew exactly why. Kurt hit himself for letting Mark walk away with it.

Did he just make the situation worse?


	9. Chp 8 Engraving

"I can't believe this." Stacie was sprawled across her living room sofa, sipping on a straw in a can of coca-cola. I sat my own drink back onto the coffee table and closed my eyes. I tried to concentrate on my problem but Stacie was making that stupid sucking sound on her straw and it made thinking impossible.

"Stacie, cool it." I gritted my teeth to stop myself from screaming at her. She just looked up at me and smiled. It made me want to hit her.

"Alright, alright. We can talk now." She sat down her drink on the table next to the sofa. I immediately stood up and caught her drink just as it was about to fall off the table. I stood there just gazing at it like it was possessed. Stacie was just smiling.

"You have got to stop doing that Stacie. What, do you think that this is just some kind of game?"

I was trying to ball my hand into a fist but instead I crushed the can I held in my hand. Coke sprayed the front of my shirt and completely covered Stacie who had been unfortunately sitting right in front of me.

"Brooke! That was uncalled for. You shouldn't release your anger on innocent cans of coke like that."

I tried to frown at her but she just started giggling and her laugh made me start to laugh. We sounded like two hysterical idiots but the laughing really helped me to relax. And Stacie being covered in coke was pretty funny.

After we finally calmed down, she realized that she was all sticky and she put a handful of her hair into her hand and tried to run her fingers through it. She about made it halfway when her fingers got stuck and I had to pull them out. By then, her hair was a tangled mass atop her head and I thought she looked like Medusa.

I told her this and if her stare really could turn me to stone, then I'd be solid rock by now.

"I'm going to take a shower. You might want to put on a dry shirt."

I looked down and finally noticed how I looked. I unfortunately had on a white blouse, which now looked as if my dog got a hold of it and buried it in the yard. The coke can I busted was still in my hand and at that moment, I realized that I had been gripping it too hard. My hand was cut open from the broken aluminum and I quickly disposed of it in the trash.

"Great, just great. I get another vision. This time of her coke can falling onto the floor and I had this stupid thought that if I saved it, it would take away the trouble of cleaning up a mess. Instead, I caused an even bigger mess! If I have to live with this power, I'm going to have to do a better job at it than this!"

I walked into the kitchen and began washing my hand in the sink. It started stinging and I jerked away my hand instinctively. Then the pain completely subsided.

"Well that can't be right," I said aloud. I looked down at my hand and about fainted. Instead of a jagged or straight line, my cut spelled out letters:**TEKU.**

I started screaming my head off. Having a power is one thing, but getting a cut that spells out a word in my visions was going a little too far. _That wasn't even possible_. I grabbed a towel and wiped off the water from my hand, hoping that the words were just my imagination. I peeked at my hand and the letters just shone even brighter against my skin. It was like a tattoo, only this one had a hidden meaning and I never agreed to getting it!

"Brooke! Brooke! Are you alright? I heard you screaming!" Stacie ran into the kitchen drenched in water and wrapped in a towel. I remembered that she had been taking a shower and I didn't mean to disturb her like that.

"Well? What's wrong?" She looked deeply concerned, and a little annoyed. I had to think fast. I just couldn't tell her about it now, at least not until I figured it out. "I-I," I started stuttering and I new I couldn't convince her that way. I cleared my throat and continued,"I just cut myself with the can. See?" I held out my hand for half a second, just long enough for her to see that I cut it. "I screamed because I saw blood. You know, I freak out when I see blood and all." I bit my lip, hoping she bought it. She nodded and went back to dry off. I let out a breath of air.

"No one will find out about this."

I looked at my hand and saw the words engraved in my skin:**TEKU.** I pulled down my sleeve and hid the mark for the rest of the day._Could my life get any weirder?_


	10. Another Author's Note

**Hey guys. Just a little note for you all. I finally figured out what you guys were talking ****about! When it separated each line like that, that was just my computer doing that. So ****if I don't want it spaced, I have to go through the whole story and backspace each line to ****put them together. It takes a bit longer but now it makes sense, huh? SOOO SORRY about ****that!! My stupid computer keeps spacing it. Well now you know, please don't hold it ****against me! Thanks for your patience with that! Again, sorry!! **

**4EverFan **


	11. Chp 9 The Argument

"Well, then it's decided. She starts next week." Dr.Tezla must have heard the recording, Kurt thought miserably to himself. He was flattened against the door to the control room with his ear firmly attached to the door, listening. He shuffled and tried to flatten himself against it even more, if that was possible.

"How did you get a hold of this?" He heard Dr.Tezla question Mark Wylde about it, and his simple reply was "Kurt."

Kurt balled his hand into a fist. He knew him and his brother were getting better at tolerating one another over the past few months, but he thought today that he would break that record. He was about to enter the room when the door suddenly flew open and he was face to face with Dr.Tezla.

"Well?" Kurt asked him impatiently, shuffling from foot to foot. Dr.Tezla looked at Kurt quizzically. Kurt figured it was because he was trying to hide something.

Mark Wylde looked at his brother and knew that there was about to be an argument and he didn't want to be apart of it. Mark left the room and it was just Kurt and Dr.Tezla.

"Well what?" Dr. Tezla seemed too relaxed to be himself. He knew then what was happening.

"No,no,no-you can't do this!" Kurt suddenly lost it. He threw off his glasses and they landed with a clink on the floor. He put his face directly in front of Dr.Tezla's and stared at him with such hatred that he could tell that it made him squirm. He cracked a small grin.

"Why are you so against this?" Dr.Tezla didn't seem to get it. Kurt knew it was because he didn't care about anyone.

"How can you not see it? Dr.Tezla, she's sixteen! She actually has a life and I'm sure she loves it. She has friends, a family-"

"They aren't her real parents, Kurt. How could she possibly like them?" Kurt was about to protest but stopped himself. He finally knew what was going on.

"You think that just because they aren't your brother, they're not good enough."

Kurt could already sense the tension around them and he was waiting for Dr.Tezla's protest. He knew he was right and he suddenly felt sorry for him. He watched as Dr.Tezla's face changed from complete fury, to confusion, then devastation.

"You're right." Kurt started to say something but stopped when he heard his reply. No continued argument?

Dr.Tezla leaned against the door frame and sighed heavily. Kurt thought that he might have been trying to hold back tears, but he wasn't sure.

"I just can't believe I let it happen. I am her uncle, I would've taken care of her." Tezla paused for a brief moment to see if Kurt had anything to say. He didn't, and he went on.

"I was there when she was born. I actually got to hold her,until her mom noticed and snatched her away from me." Kurt saw Tezla ball up his hands. Kurt frowned and Dr.Tezla smiled.

"I know what you're thinking Kurt. And I didn't kill them." He actually wasn't thinking that at all, but he didn't say anything.

"Her mother knew that I was trying to discover hidden realms and she, like many, thought I was insane. She didn't want me near her daughter and I didn't want near her either. I was afraid to get too attached to her, but it was too late. I already cared a great deal about the little infant so I took frequent stops to secretly check up on her. After their death, I have still taken a great deal of interest in looking out for Brooke. I actually bought her that issue of Extreme Racing and put it in her mailbox."

Kurt saw Dr.Tezla smile and he couldn't help but smile,too. He was learning more and more about this girl and he felt odd knowing her and her not knowing him. He wondered how her life was actually like now that she could see things like she could.

"I never thought that I would care so much about a child like this." Dr.Tezla suddenly stood up straighter and walked back into the control room. Kurt followed.

"Maybe so, but that still doesn't mean she'd be happier here." Kurt felt weird giving Dr.Tezla advice. But he knew that what he said was excellent advice for the situation and hoped Dr.Tezla thought so,too.

"That's why I'm giving her a choice. But first, I want to know a little more about her." He typed words quickly into the search bar and hit enter. A page quickly filled the screen and he noticed a medium sized picture of Brooke, holding a trophy. Kurt quickly read the heading: **Young Girl Comes in First in Competition. **He read the paragraph below it and found out that she had won first place in a contest for hot wiring a car, building an engine, and racing against twenty- nine other people. He had to agree with the doctor, she did have many talents.

"Hmmm, oh I see." He suddenly remembered that Dr.Tezla was there with him, also reading the same thing. "She also came in third in a contest to see who could make the coolest remixes to simple songs. Brandon came in second, and-" Dr.Tezla stopped talking and Kurt thought something was wrong. He leaned over and read the rest-"**The first place trophy was given to ****Shirako Takamoto. He certainly has a pure talent to music." **Kurt laughed. He now knew that Shirako liked music even back when he was thirteen.

Dr.Tezla shut off the computer.He turned toward Kurt and said, "That's all I need to know. She's smart when it comes to cars and she apparently has a love of music. I believe that she will fit in well with the Teku, don't you?"


	12. Chp 10 The Mysterious Call

"Finally, Saturday is here! Time to sleep in." I woke up early that morning from becoming so used to waking up at 6:00 to get ready for school. I rolled over and went back to sleep.

_Her dream started as a memory when she won third place in a remixing contest. She saw __the small Chinese kid holding his big gold trophy and she remembered being sad about losing so __in her dream she became sad. She looked at the young boy's face for a moment. He was so happy __with himself and she immediately felt happy for him. But suddenly, his face changed and she saw __an older boy in his place. He had a sort of spiky hairdo instead of straight and shaggy. She realized __as soon as she saw him grin that it was Shirako, just a lot older than he was when he won the __contest. She wondered how she was seeing him now, grown up and in a street racing team. He __had on a TEKU jacket and he was wearing headphones. She smiled. He still loved music. At least __that hadn't changed. "Dude, if you're gonna buzz, buzz in tune." She realized that he was driving __through a type of swamp realm. She remembered a recent dream she had of Nolo in that same __realm, winning the race. He turned up the volume and she heard loud music playing. He had been __lifted into the air but now he was dropped. Apparently, the big bug thing couldn't handle a few tunes._

I opened my eyes and immediately groaned. I didn't mean to have another vision and this one was the weirdest of all._ How could I have a vision of someone I had known? Then, he suddenly __becomes a member of that TEKU team?_

I looked down at my hand. The same engraving was still there and I noticed that it was pink and not as bright red as before. I subconsciously pulled my sleeve down over it and got up out of bed. My phone immediately started ringing and I hurried over to my desk where it was laying.

"Hello?" I heard a voice I couldn't recognise. It was definitely a male, probably middle aged.

"Hello. My name is Dr.-" There was a slight pause-"Peter. My name is Peter." I thought that this was odd.

"Look, if you are calling to sell me something, I'm not interested." I was about to hang up but he said something that got my attention.

"I just thought that you would be interested in a race." That definitely made me interested. Anything that has to do with cars was important to me.

"I am an expert on cars and I am currently living close to your home." I started to get really creeped out. He knew where I lived? Not something I really wanted to know. He apparently read my mind because he added,"Of course, I know of all students who have gained their licences or not. I have files." I felt a little better.

"So, you work for my school?" He took a moment to answer, "Yes."

I sighed with relief. I was greatly relieved that he wasn't a spy or something.

"So, why ask me to race?" He actually answered that quite quickly.

"I know that you won trophies on numerous activities that have to do with cars. I know you have great abilities for working with vehicles. This definitely triggers many jobs for you, and I am offering you one."

I almost laughed. I was only sixteen and I suddenly had a job? Unbelievable.

He asked me for my address to come pick me up to take me to his job for my first lesson. I figured I had nothing to lose. A job with cars seemed wonderful enough that I didn't really care about anything else. I gave it to him and he seemed pleased. He said he would arrive in fifteen minutes and I hung up the phone. I quickly took a speed-ed shower and blow dried my hair. It never took long for me to get ready because I never put on make-up or fancy hairdos. I figured that you shouldn't try to make yourself more beautiful than you already were. I liked to keep my hair simple that way if I got hot, I could just put it up in a ponytail. If it was in a fancy style held with mousse or hairspray, then you couldn't do anything to it. I didn't see the point.

So I left it down and put a hair bow in my pocket. My socks and shoes came next and I put them on right when he pulled into the drive.

I ran down the stairs and put my hand on the door knob, about to open it when I heard a groggy voice say,"Where are you going?" I put my hand down and turned around. I saw my mom and I knew that she was trying to stay awake. She had a cup of coffee in her hand and she was wearing a robe. Her eyes were bloodshot but alert enough to understand what was going on. Her red hair was matted to her head and I always wondered why hers was red and curly while mine was straight and dark brown.

"Just," I tried to find the right words. I wasn't going to tell her the truth, not when I knew she would just be worried about me. She never like it when I left by myself to anywhere. She only let me go to the library or Stacie's. "Just going to the library." I bit my lip and tried to make it sound obvious. She squinted at me.

"On a Saturday?" She didn't believe me so I added,"Yeah, I forgot about an overdue library book I was supposed to give back. Oh, and after that, I'll probably go to Stacie's. We don't get much time to talk to each other during school, you know."

Really, I had her in every class and in each one I sat beside Stacie. I hoped my fib worked. It did. She just walked back up the stairs, mumbling to herself. I let out a breath of air. I hated lying but I promised myself that I would tell her the truth later. After I got the job.

I ran out the door and saw the vehicle in the driveway. It was white and purple. It looked pretty advanced.

"You ready?" He called to me from inside the car and I recognised it as the one on the phone.

"Sure." I opened the passenger door and climbed in. It was way more advanced than I thought.

"Woah." I whistled."Check this out." I said it out loud and I realized how stupid it sounded. The man just grinned. I finally looked at his face and had a strange feeling that I knew him from somewhere. But where?

He looked away and focused straight ahead. He backed out of the driveway and onto the road. We were traveling for a while on a road I had never been on before. I noticed a sign that said HIGHWAY 35 with some kind of gold chain on it. I didn't understand that.

After about fifteen more minutes, we were traveling around millions and millions of sand dunes in a strange pattern that he apparently memorized. We finally came across a big building that grew larger every time we got closer. It was huge! I tried my best to estimate how big it was. I couldn't.

"We're there, Brooke." I laughed. "I kind of thought so."


	13. Chp 11 Meetings

Again,the building was huge! As we slowly entered the massive structure, I suddenly felt very small, as if the only two things in the world were the building and me. It totally gave me the creeps but I seriously wanted this job, whatever it is he wanted me to do, so I knew that I would just have to live with it. I always felt woozy in a room all full of strangers and that's what I got. After we got out of his car, he motioned for me to follow him into some kind of conference room- full of complete strangers I didn't want to see.

"Here, take a seat." He pulled out a chair that was beside a woman with brown hair and a ponytail.

With just one look I could tell that she had great talents and wasn't afraid to prove it. I felt uneasy sitting next to her but I didn't see anywhere else to sit so I sat there. I twined my fingers together and looked down. I could feel the stares of everyone in the room and I decided that if I was going to work with them, I might as well know what they looked like.

I glanced around the room and took a quick peek at their faces. The woman's face was calm and I envied her then threw that emotion out the window. There was no point in envying someone you didn't even know, although it seemed like I did know her. But that wasn't possible.

"This is Brooke. She's the one I've been talking about all this time." Peter smiled at me and I tried to smile back. In reality, I felt sick to my stomach.

No one looked away from me. I was the center of attention at the moment. A moment too long for me. "Wouldn't you guys mind looking at something else?" I said this defensively and I didn't know I was so aggravated. That went away as soon as I got some angry glares by some of the people.

The people on my side seemed way more friendly than the people sitting across from me. The ones across from me wore skulls and red and black clothes. They looked a little scary and I didn't spend a lot of time looking at them. I decided to look at the more friendly people. These people wore white and blue and seemed even more nervous than the scary looking bunch.

"How old are you?" I searched the room for the one who asked the question. My eyes fell on a strange looking man with dirty red hair who sat beside a very big and broad shouldered man. They both had red hair and I almost laughed to see them sitting beside each other when they both were such different sizes.

"Sixteen," I answered honestly. I was in a room with a bunch of people who I knew could kick my butt. I wasn't about to lie to them. I seriously felt uncomfortable around them all, not because they scared me because they didn't. I actually liked them. Weird, I knew, but I liked them. I was shocked that I felt so uncomfortable.

I subconsciously scratched my hand because it felt irritated. I looked at my hand and I about fainted.

I heard someone say,"What's wrong?" but I was beyond wanting to listen to them. My hand, the one with the engraving, was seriously burning. The letters were glowing a deep shade of red as if the letters appeared just at that moment.


	14. Chp 12 Ipods

My hand was on fire. My stupid scar was really starting to tick me off. I tried shaking it but that somehow made it a lot worse. Why was the darn thing acting up now? It had never burned like this before and I tried everything in my power to get it to stop. I tried rubbing it, tapping it, shaking it, and now hiding it. The dude with the mechanical arm was seriously staring at me and it was totally making me nervous.

He seemed to be looking at my hand so I tried hiding it under the table.

I was a little too late.

He uttered the words I so desperately didn't want to hear. "Look, I'm no doctor, but I think that you really need to do something about your hand."

All eyes were on me. They were all confused and I didn't blame them. I pretended not to hear him. I searched around in my jacket pocket for something to do. I found the hair band and decided to pull back my hair, just so I could have something else to do.

Bad move.

I took out the tie and slipped it around my arm. I ran my fingers through my hair, showing half my palm to everyone in the process. That was such a stupid move that I would have smacked myself if I had a free hand. I didn't think that it would be too obvious, except for the fact that it had started glowing a deep shade of red.

"Brooke, let me see your hand," Peter demanded in a calm voice that gave me the chills. I was about to get caught and I had to prevent that from happening. I couldn't explain this to them. They would never believe me. My only other option was to grab my ipod out of my other pocket. I didn't know what else to do. I chose my favorite song and I turned up the volume all the way. All I wanted was for to create a distraction. I closed my eyes and let the music flow through me. I only focused on the words.

The big man with the dirty red hair growled. "She's just as bad as the Stinku! Always has to be listening to music at a volume that irritates everyone within hearing distance!" He grabbed his bone hanging from a chain around his neck and started chewing it, apparently trying to calm himself. He didn't know that I could hear him. That made me smile.

The man to the left of me had a different opinion. "I like this song. It has a nice beat." He was now my favorite. My music must have been loud enough for them to hear.

"Wow. It sounds about as loud as when Shirako plays his music." This was a females voice, so it must have been the brunette. I wasn't focused on that though, because the name she just mentioned made my focus shift to their conversation.

"What?!" I almost fell out of my seat. My ipod clank noisily to the floor after I sat up straight. I didn't even notice.

I searched frantically around the room and my eyes finally fell on the brunette after I remembered that she was sitting right next to me.

"Did you just say Shirako?" I waited impatiently for her answer. She looked about as confused as I felt.

"Yeah, is something wrong?" She seemed oblivious to what I was getting at and she didn't have to know. She would just think I was insane. I was beginning to think so too.

My head was suddenly spinning. Shirako! I knew him. How could _they_? He was in my visions. He was apart of the TEKU, what was unfortunately etched across my right palm. The room suddenly felt very hot and very small. I felt claustrophobic just then. I started to shake uncontrollably. I heard a lot of voices but they were muffled. I stood up to leave but I instantly had to lean against the table for support. All sorts of thoughts were going through my mind. I was so scared, confused, and nauseous that I wasn't able to stay conscious. The room turned sideways and I blacked out.


	15. Chp 13 LOL

I heard someones voice. I couldn't interpret who's it belonged to, but I knew it was somewhere close. The sound drew me in, I wanted to hold on to it. My mind was so foggy that I couldn't really think straight, but I tried to grasp reality. I was somehow floating through nothing, just floating. I fought within myself to stop all of it, to stop pushing away. I wanted to come back, to feel things, see things besides just plain darkness. Then, I heard it again. Someones soft voice. It was soothing and it became my motivation. The impulse was what I needed. It became louder, more urgent. I started to catch certain scents, feel a little more. My mind became a lot clearer, clear enough for me to realize that I was lying on my back.

The muffled voice was very clear now. I caught a few words like "wake" and "Lon". I know, it didn't make sense to me either. I had tried so hard to return to reality that I wasn't even aware of the pain at the time. There was a sharp jolt that ran completely through my body that I think started at the top of my head. It really hurt to move. I wanted so much to know where I was and what I was doing there.

"Brooke? Brooke, it's Lani. Can you hear me?" I had heard a complete sentence! I would have laughed aloud if I had the strength to.

"Brooke? Come on Brooke, wake up."

Now that I heard it that clearly, I suddenly didn't want to. She was so close to my ear that she was making it ring. I clenched my left hand into a fist. It was such a simple move, but it felt glorious. I flexed my left arm, then my right. I suddenly felt like I could do just about anything. I know, it was such a stupid thought, but hey, I had been unconscious for a while and it was messing with my brain a little bit.

"That's it, Brooke. Keep it up. You're doing fine."

I wanted to reach out and slap her. I realized how cruel that sounded but I couldn't help it. The noise was getting on my nerves and so was the emptiness that surrounded my thoughts. It would have been filled but I had no explanations for about a billion different questions. I needed answers fast for if I didn't, I thought that my brain would explode from lack of them.

"Brooke? Don't tell me I lost you."

I tried to growl and I was surprised to hear the sound of my own voice. A second after, my throat felt as dry as if I had been sucking on sandpaper.

"Brooke! Brooke, oh you're alright! That's excellent. Here, have some of this." I felt a hand close gently around the back of my neck and pull me upward so that I was sitting at an angle. Something hard was pressing against my lips and my first reaction was to open them. Then she poured the cold liquid into my mouth at the same instant I was going to ask what it was.

Again, bad move.

My eyes snapped open and I coughed up all of that liquid right onto the thin sheet that covered me. It was white but now it was a sort of beige. My eyes started to water from pure embarrassment.

I really didn't mean to do that. Although, the little accident did help me to come back to the world. I had been out of it for I didn't know how long and I was anxious to know all that happened after I fainted.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I must have poured a little too fast. Are you alright?"

I glanced towards the voice. I was going to say "Yeah thanks for that!" but I held my tongue. I just said,"Don't worry about it."

She smiled at me and I couldn't help but feel a lot better. I shifted positions and the bed made little squeaking sounds.

"You really should fix that," I stated casually. She smirked and added,"And maybe the bed sheets."

I couldn't help it, I started to laugh. She seemed surprised for a moment, then laughed along with me. Our laughter echoed all through the room and seemed to bounce off the walls. I knew that it wasn't really funny but I had been through so much, I needed to laugh it all off. Tears threatened to spill over for I could feel it forming beneath my eyes. I quickly wiped them away with the sleeve of my shirt.

The woman noticed and laughed even harder.

"Okay, Okay, we should definitely stop. I honestly can't breath," I managed to choke out between gasps.

She stood up and walked over to the table that I finally noticed was placed at the foot of the bed. She poured more of the liquid into another cup that she drank in less than two minutes. I almost laughed out loud but I didn't want to start another mad laughing fit so I bit my lower lip to stop myself from doing so.

"That was the most fun I have had in a while." She threw the plastic cup in the trash and turned to look at me.

"Are you serious? You really should get out more." I didn't mean to make it sound funny but she laughed any way and replied,"Yeah, I think I should."

I was lost. That's the only way that I could explain it. I tried asking her questions but she never gave me the answers that I wanted. She _did_ answer _one_ honestly, though. I asked her about her name.

"It's Lani. Lani Tam." Finally. Some piece of information that I could hold on to. I was going to ask her more but she quickly left the room, her sneakers making that taptaptapping sound as she went.

I sighed. I wondered if I really would ever figure it all out. Little did I know that I would soon find out everything.


	16. Chp 14 Decision Making

The only thought that kept its place in my mind was, I'm hungry. As if on cue, my stomach growled noisily, and I thought that someone would appear at the door. They didn't, of course. Actually, there was complete silence after my ''gurgling intestines'' quieted down.

"Man, this seriously bites!" I grumbled to myself. I folded my arms against my chest and drew in a deep breath. I laid my head down against the pillow that barely kept me propped up in the bed that I realized I was supposed to be resting in. But how could I? I was in a momentary state of shock, my brain was frying, and now my stomach wouldn't stop talking to me! Not to mention that my bed was still completely soaked. Lani never returned to change them.

I sat there, simmering. I glared at the wall...that's when I noticed two very imporant things: the clock and the cell phone.

Finally, something! I threw the sheet that laid against me aside and swung my legs over the end of the bed, letting them dangle. Then I hesitated. Was this right? Should I leave all this behind? My thoughts over-crowded me. It was like I was arguing with myself. Half of me said to grab the phone,call my parents to tell them to come pick me up, or not to and take the job I was offered here.

The clock on the wall read 12:02. I snorted. Great. That's a big help. If I do call my parents, they won't only be angry with me for coming here by myself, but for waking them up a little after midnight!

Go,stay. Go,stay. I couldn't decide. One of my classes last year taught us about decision making. I couldn't remember whether it was in health class or Language Arts. "Man, I wish I had listened a little better in school," I muttered to myself. I remembered the part about examining your options. I decided to try it.

Let's see. If I leave, I won't have to explain about my hand or why I fainted earlier. But on the other hand, if I _do _call my parents and leave, I would be grounded for the next century and I knew what the punishment would be: no driving until I'm 30!

Okay, staying. If I stayed, someone might notice my mark. But, then again, I might finally find the perfect job for me here and maybe figure out who the heck the TEKU were.

I stretched across the bed and turned to one side. I had to decide sooner or later. I contemplated my options a bit further and figured out what to do: I wouldn't chance them catching even the slightest glimpse of my scar. How could I explain it? There was nothing I could do. This job would have to wait because I wasn't about to become analyzed by doctors or shrinks after I told them about my visions. I had made up my mind. I had to leave this place. Maybe I won't have this job, but at least I had fun. Wait, had fun? I almost laughed. Fun? I fainted, met a bunch of people I didn't want to know, got put in an infirmary, and I finally believed that I was losing my mind.

Time to go.

I hopped out of the bed. The sudden change made the room spin and it took all my strength to stay upright. I just stood there, shaking my head and waiting for it to stop. It finally subsided and I made my way across the floor,_barefooted_, I realized quickly. My feet became ice cold from the feeling of the metal floor. I just shook it off. Nothing, not even cold feet, was enough to stop me from reaching that phone. My urgency increased with each step I took. I then didn't care who heard me. I ran for it. The room was so big and the phone was placed on a table against the wall, completely on the opposite side of the room. My heartbeat quickened and my feet matched the pace of my heart exactly. I had been so determined to reach the phone that I hadn't noticed that someone had been standing at the doorway the whole time.

"Yes," I murmured happily. I held up the phone at eye level to check and see if it was on. It was and the time across the front read 12:15.

That's when I saw him. I froze up on the spot. The shock was so big that I dropped the phone. My mouth snapped open and shaped into an o. I was so numb then that I didn't hear it hit the floor.

After an awkward moment, he finally spoke up.

"You know, I really thought that your remix was going to win. You had a great beat going."

I collected myself long enough to choke out,"Shirako?"

He just flashed a small grin and stepped into the room.


	17. Chp 17 Me

**I know my story skipped to chp 17. I meant for that to happen. Apparently, the computer put my author's note's as chapters so I skipped to the right chapter. Sorry about that! **

"Shirako? I-what-where?" There were so many questions constantly forming in my mind that I couldn't control them. I kept stumbling over the words. Shirako? Here? I suddenly felt a lot more dizzy all of a sudden. I shut my eyes tightly and tried to grip the table but my hand slipped. I waited to feel myself slam into the metal floor. I didn't, oddly enough.

I still had my eyes tightly closed when I heard,"Woah, you really should be more careful." I opened them and the first thing I saw was my knees on the floor then a pair of arms wrapped around my waist. They were Shirako's. I quickly realized that I had almost fallen but he had caught me before I did and sat me carefully on the floor. I felt a blush creeping slowly across my face. I tried to hide it but he must have noticed because he let go of me. It was completely awkward just sitting there with him. He apparently didn't mind.

We both asked "Why are you here?" at the same time. I laughed and he smiled. I was able to recollect my thoughts enough to remember all that had happened: the meeting, my visions, Peter, my ipod..MY IPOD!! I smacked myself hard in the forehead, hard enough to make my eyes water.

"Um, why did you just do that?" He seemed deeply concerned. I smiled.

"No, no, I'm fine. I just remembered that I left my ipod on the floor in well..." I trailed off. I didn't really feel like explaining the whole scene to him. He didn't ask any questions though I expected him to.

Instead, he reached into his jacket pocket...and took out my ipod!

"Hey, that's it!" I held it tightly against my chest, protecting it. After all,it was my favorite item in the whole world and I didn't want to part from it again. I know, I probably sound obsessed right?

Shirako seemed to understand. Odd. Then I remembered the contest we both took part in. He won after all. So I guessed he loved music more than I did, though I didn't believe that was even possible!

"How did you know it was mine?"

He grinned sheepishly. "Well, I uh.." He looked really embarrassed and I couldn't help but laugh at him. Now it was his turn to blush.

"I kind of heard about the meeting a little while ago. I was busy in my car listening to some music and didn't hear about the meeting."

Wow, shocking.

"Porkchop mumbled something about you being as bad as me. I knew he was talking about my music. I-"

"Porkchop?" I laughed and abruptly stopped when he didn't laugh back. "You weren't joking?"

Now that did get a chuckle out of him. He shrugged."That's just a nickname for one of the drivers here. His real name is, actually, I don't really know what his real name is."

I tried to suppress a smile. "Hey, you were going to say something else, before I rudely interrupted you," I replied with my eyes downcast.

"Oh, I don't mind," he answered smiling. I grinned."Good, because I'll be doing that often."

His smile widened.

"Well, let's see. Oh, yes. I was going to say that I asked Nolo about it and-"

"Nolo?" I interrupted again. "Is he here?" I glanced around the room, as if expecting him to be there.

"Yeah. We all live and work here. Didn't you know that?" He looked at me completely confused.

I felt the same way. Confused.

"Do you know Nolo?" He asked me, frowning slightly.

"You could say that," I replied, slipping my ipod into my jacket pocket and biting my lower lip. I made a move to stand and he held out his hand for support. I took it and thanked him.

"So, you fainted huh?" He laughed slightly and that blush creeped up on me again.

I punched him lightly in the arm and said,"Hey,I was really freaked out about that! you being here kind of surprised me a little bit." There was actually more to that story but I didn't mention anything more about it.

"A little bit?" He mocked questioningly.

I was about to protest when Peter suddenly entered the room. He saw Shirako and me and his face lit up.

"So I guess you two have met?"

I glared at him.

"Brooke, you really should be getting more rest-"

"I'm fine," I answered angrily. My sudden anger surprised me. Peter didn't do anything to me, but I felt like hitting him. Probably because he was the one who convinced me to come in the first place.

"Well, then I guess I can't pose pone the matter anymore," Peter said, grimly. More to himself than to me.

"Brooke, you may want to sit down."

"I'll stand," I argued back. I wanted Peter to know that I didn't want to be there anymore. I didn't, _did I?_

"I may need more people here to convince you Brooke."

Convince me? About what?

"Come in, everyone," Peter announced quite loudly.

I shrieked. He wasn't kidding. Everyone, who I had previously met before, came into the room. They all seemed pretty nervous. I had no idea why.

The first one in was the brunette. She walked right up to me and held out her hand. As we shook hands, she smiled and said,"I'm Karma." I felt relieved. At least I wouldn't have to call her "the brunette" anymore. She let go of my hand. I watched as her ponytail swung from side to side as she walked back towards the group.

"Alright. Anyone care to start it off?" Peter scanned the room, absorbing everyone's emotions. No one raised their hands or spoke up. Peter sighed, exasperatedly.

"Fine, I will begin." He took some kind of device out of his pocket and pointed it at the wall to my left. I watched in silence as a rather large screen dropped down and covered almost half of the wall. Did I mention that it was a large screen?

The lights quickly dimmed and the room was cast in a blanket of darkness. I chuckled. It felt like biology class when my teacher, Mr. Fieldman, played us videos in class. My laughter was cut short, however, when I saw who showed up on screen. My smile that had formed quickly melted as I witnessed, in horror, my own image being played on that huge screen.

It was me!! ME!!


	18. Chp 18 Foster Parents?

"Brooke, I need you to pay close attention," Peter commanded firmly.

I nodded and swallowed hard. As if he even had to tell me. My eyes were glued to the screen. I didn't want to miss anything.

_I was witnessing my own all over again, only in a different view. I was two years old. I had only a __wisp of hair and bright big aqua blue eyes. I was laughing, showing off my small miniature front __teeth. It was my own birthday party fourteen years ago._

I felt deeply confused. I didn't remember this. In fact, I didn't even recognise the house.

_"Happy Birthday, honey!" It was someone's voice, definitely female. She was apparently holding up the __camera. I was all smiles. She handed me a gift box wrapped in red wrapping paper._

I glanced around the room. The tall broad shouldered man with red hair was eyeing me suspiciously. I tried smiling at him and he just scowled. What's his problem? I thought to myself. I decided to look at someone else, someone who wasn't staring me down. Karma was watching the video with curious eyes, nodding to herself now and then. Shirako was still standing next to me. He saw me staring at him and smiled. I smiled back and turned my attention back to the screen.

_I saw myself struggling with the wrapping paper. My tiny hands couldn't grasp it quite hard enough._

_"Oh, here. Let me help, sweetie." A man walked up to me and crouched in front of the screen._

_"John, really," She muttered, annoyed._

_"What?" He questioned, laughing lightly._

_"Don't you agree that people would much rather see our adorable daughter than your backside?"_

_I saw the back of his neck turn pink as he scooted out of the way._

My eyes suddenly felt irritated. I tried rubbing them. I finally noticed that I had been crying. I knew why. My palms started to sweat so I wiped them across the side of my pant leg. Had I heard right? Their daughter!?

The video stopped and Peter examined my emotions carefully. I tried to seem confident but my bottom lip was trembling. I knew that they were all watching me. I hated being the center of attention. I reached into my pocket to take out my ipod. My arm was almost out of it but someone's hand prevented me from taking out my music. I looked up to see Shirako, frowning and shaking his head slightly. He didn't have to say a word. His gesture said it all. He meant,"Don't. This is important." I obeyed by dropping the ipod back in my pocket. My stomach did a double back flip. If Shirako didn't approve of music, then what was about to be said was serious business.

"Brooke, do you realize why I showed you this tape?" Peter waited patiently for me to answer. I felt like I was being interviewed by a reporter.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. He didn't look convinced.

"Really? Are you sure there isn't something else you would like to say?" He was trying to manipulate me and that infuriated me.

"Yes, there is. I'm wondering, how is it that you have possession of that tape?" I questioned, smirking. He barely even moved. He pushed his glasses farther up his nose.

"Your father gave it to me," he stated matter-of-factly. I laughed.

"My father? You don't even know my father. Or at least, he doesn't know you." I folded my arms against my chest.

"Well, I don't know your foster father."

I rolled my eyes. He really didn't understand. He just-wait. I stared him down, daring him to show any sign that he was joking. He looked as serious as usual. I gulped. Foster Parents? I knew my little tough girl act had worn off. I tried to regain composure. I couldn't. My heart beated even faster against my chest. "You're lying," I answered simply.

"Am I? Then how do you explain the video?" Peter was testing me. I became so annoyed with him. He was just like a parent, I swear.

"I don't know but it doesn't mean that I have-"

"Foster Parents?" Peter interrupted. Okay, I now realized that interrupting someone was rude and very irritating. I had to remind myself to say sorry to Shirako.

"Please," I said through gritted teeth. "Stop saying that!" I balled up my hands and really fought to stop myself from screaming at him. He didn't have the right to mock me that way. I had parents and he was telling me that I had been-adopted?

"Fine," He sighed softly."If you're not going to believe me, then maybe you'll believe your so called "parents"." He bent down and picked up the phone that I had dropped onto the floor. He flipped it open and dialed a number, held it to his ear, and walked out of the room.

I stood there, stunned. Who the heck was he calling? He didn't mean, my parents did he? I bit down hard on my tongue and stayed silent. If he was calling my parents, then I would be in so much trouble when they found out where I was.

"Brooke? You okay?" Shirako was very worried about me. At least someone cared. I let my hands fall to my sides.

"Yeah, I guess. I'm just so confused right now I-" I couldn't go on. The tears I had held back wouldn't be contained any longer. I buried my face in my hands and stumbled to the bed, sobbing into the pillow.


	19. Chp 19 Karma's Story

Okay, did I mention that I was in an awkward situation before? I lied. _This_ was an awkward situation.

I was lying face down on the bed, seriously crying my eyes out. I don't think I've ever cried so hard as I was then. There was at least 10 other people in the room with me. I didn't even know them, either. I was so embarrassed that if they could see my face, they'd be able to tell that it was blood red.

"Brooke?"

I peeked at the speaker. It was Karma. I wanted to ignore her, but I knew how rude that would have been so I said nothing. Instead, I wiped my eyes with my sleeve and brushed away a few tears.

"Look, it may not seem so but I know just how you feel." Karma was probably just trying to make me feel better. It wasn't really helping but I appreciated the attempt.

"Thanks but I don't think I really need a pep talk right now." I sat up in the bed and waited for her reaction. I hoped that what I said would be the end of it, but I was wrong. She smiled and stood in front of me,saying,"I know."

That was pretty confusing. How could she know? She doesn't know how it feels to be heart broken like this. I was lied to my whole life!

"How? At least you know your last name," I snapped at her. This brought a few sad glances from some of the people there, including Shirako. I softened when I saw him. I really didn't mean to make him feel sorry for me. I scolded myself for doing that.

Karma reached for my hand. I knew what she was doing and I let her. She closed her fingers around my hand and I accepted them. She was just trying to show how she felt. I felt like hugging her and it surprised me when _she_ actually hugged _me_.

"I may not have foster parents, but I did lose my mom when I was only four." I almost cried all over again. I might have foster parents, but at least I had parents.

I studied other people's expressions. Some had their mouths hanging open.Some just stared at Karma. Apparently, this was just as shocking to me as it was to them. That really surprised me.

"Really? Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," Karma interrupted, smiling slightly. "It certainly wasn't your fault and it wasn't mine, even though my dad always said it was." She wasn't smiling anymore. She was probably having a bad memory and I stayed out of it.

"Is it alright if I share this with you?" Karma questioned me.

_Me_? Share her deepest memory with _me_?

"Sure," I answered. I didn't want to say no. She seemed pleased with my answer.

"_My mom and I were going to go get some ice cream. I had gotten an A on an important project and she wanted to reward me for that_."

A smile escaped her lips. I smiled along with her. I realized something. She stopped me from crying, my mood was pretty much normal, and I forgot about everyone in the room. Well, until that moment.

"_We were singing some kind of song, having a wonderful time, when a car suddenly crossed lanes and collided with the car_."

Karma stopped with a pained expression. I squeezed her hand. She smiled and went on.

"_He was drunk. He hit my mom head on. I was in the back seat, to the right. He didn't hit my side. I lived and my mom died. It's been hard. I pretty much cried every night after that, having the most awful nightmares. Sometimes I'd just lock myself in my room and lay in bed. I stopped eating and lost a whole lot of weight. You know how I got through all of that_?"

"No, what?" Duh. Of course I didn't know. Then I felt sorry for thinking that. I was pretty interested in what she was going to say, though.

"_I always strive to be the best. I made straight A's, made many friends,and joined many teams. Volleyball,Track,and I also took part in the basketball team. I did it to distract my thoughts. Every time I thought of my mom, I pushed myself even harder_."

It impressed me how many sports she had joined. She really did have many many talents.

"_Of course, after I started driving, I didn't want to stop. I loved it. I started racing my friends down deserted roads, but it wasn't enough. I then joined the TE_-"

"Okay, I'm sorry about stopping you, Karma but I can't take it anymore. Can someone please tell me your names?" I searched the room frantically for someone to speak. Most everyone laughed.

The man with red hair spoke up. He was short and skinny and really needed a bath. I couldn't help but notice that he really resembled a monkey. "Sorry 'bout that. It's just, you being here and all was-"

"Different?" I interrupted him, trying to smile. He was really nervous and I wanted to make him more comfortable for him. He glanced around and murmured,"I'm Monkey."

I didn't mean to laugh, but I did. "Monkey?" I asked, trying to contain myself. His face turned a deep shade of red. I embarrassed him. Great. Third person I meet and now he probably hates me.

"It's a nickname," Shirako replied. He leaned over and whispered,"Just don't ask him what his real name is."

I wasn't planning to. Monkey probably wanted to avoid me anyway.

My eyes swept the room and landed on the big broad red haired man. "And what's yours, dare I ask?"

He looked me square in the eye and said,"It's Porkchop."

Man, I thought. They must be lying to me. That was fine with me. They didn't have to tell me, though I wanted them to trust me. I was going to say something but his stare made me stop. He was so big that I immediately felt like an ant, staring up at the Eiffel Tower. His outfit really fit his demeanor: tough and scary. I'm serious. The guy looked like when my mom tried to dress me up as a gangster.

"So, anybody else?" I said this so I didn't have to look at him anymore.

"Hey, It's Tork." I looked to the left and watched as a man walked up to me and held out his hand.

We shook and I about shrieked. He had a firm grip. Tork had jet black hair in a- actually I'm not sure what type of style. His outfit almost matched Porkchop's. He had on black and maroon. His big and bad look didn't show his real self however. He seemed confident, I could tell that right off. Tork had a cool air about him. I could tell that he was a very kind and appreciative person. His eyes told so much of himself. I instantly felt much respect toward him.

This next moment made me pretty nervous. The man with the mechanical arm walked up to me. He smirked at my expression which made me scowl at him. He just laughed.

"Wylde." He held out his mechanical arm. I frowned.

"No, I don't think I'm going to do that." I put my hands in my jean pockets to prove I was serious. I about got my hand crushed by Tork's grip, I wasn't about to get it smashed by a metal arm.

"Oh, sorry 'bout that. Haven't quite got the hang of it yet."

I could actually here my brain cells frying. Haven't quite got the hang of it?

"Why did you get it anyway?"

He shook his head. Wylde held up the mechanical arm."You think I actually wanted this?"

His answer threw me off balance.

"Well, yeah. I mean, how else did you get it?"

He opened his mouth to reply but a different voice said,"Not now."

The new voice seemed pretty similar to Wylde's. I turned to see someone else walking towards me. He had black spiky hair like Wylde's. He was about an inch shorter with a squarer jaw. His eyes showed that he was calm but urgent. He then turned to me and smiled quickly. My thoughts said, hey, he's pretty cute... but I shrugged off the feeling. Why in the world would he be interested in me? Besides, he probably already had a girlfriend anyway. He saw me watching him, nodded, and said,"Kurt." Kurt. I liked that name.

Wylde's expression lingered for a moment. He kept his voice cool.

"Fine, whenever she's told I'll be glad to explain."

"Told of what?" I asked them, completely unaware of what I was about to learn.

Wylde replied,"You'll find out soon enough."

That made me frustrated.No one was telling me anything! I'm sure, judging by the looks of these people, that I'd be better off not knowing, but my curiosity level was too high. I had to know now or I'd surely bust.

I didn't have to wait for very long. Peter strode into the room, with a look of satisfaction plainly written across his face. He held the phone to my ear and said,"It's for you."


	20. Chp 20 Tezla

Gulp.

My stomach twisted into a knot that was so big, I had trouble breathing. Peter was held the phone against my ear, waiting for me to take it.

"It's alright. They'll understand," Peter remarked before dropping his arm to his side and walking to a near corner.

_Yeah right. Sure, they'll understand. They'll kill me, but they'll understand_, I thought sarcastically.

I held the phone with a shaky hand, almost dropping it when I heard a voice whisper,"Hello?"

I knew that the voice belonged to my mom. _What to say? Should I come right to the point and __demand answers? Should I tell them I was fine and explain why I'm here? Should I- _

"Honey, we're really sorry!" My mother's calming demeanour was suddenly destroyed. Her voice was shaky and forced, as if she had been crying for a pretty long time. _Good_, I thought. _Now she knows __how I feel. _

"Is that it?" I blurted, anger making a comeback inside my head. "You're just sorry? Sorry doesn't even halfway cover it! You lied to me! You lied and I believed you!" My voice rose many octaves and my nervousness completely melted away.

"Look, we did so you could have a life. So you could actually be someone-"

"Oh, because I'm really nothing?"

"I didn't say that," she replied firmly.

"But you were going to," I muttered quietly.

* * *

Kurt watched the scene with concerned eyes. He kept his gaze on Brooke, studying her expressions and gestures to try and figure out what was going on. He saw her frown, smirk, then become as silent as the dead. He just couldn't figure her out.

"I don't think we should be listening to this," Monkey whispered to Tork. The Teku and the Metal Maniacs alike were all piled in the corner of the infirmary, listening to Brooke's conversation. Tork replied with a shrug.

"Everyone should stay," Peter answered giving everyone a stern gaze."If she's going to stay, then she'll need to get used to us all being around her."

"_If_ she's going to stay," Kurt muttered to no one in particular. No matter how much he tried, he just couldn't get himself to believe that she was actually going to stay. For someone so young and fragile, he just couldn't see it happening.

"AnnaLee? My mother's name was AnnaLee?" Kurt heard Brooke ask in a tone that meant she was shocked at what she just learned.

He watched her closely. Her hair was moving as much as she was, shimmering in the dim light that shone through the cracked window above their heads. It was a chestnut brown that seemed to have caramel colored highlights streaked through it. Her side swept bangs were frequently falling on her face, in which she then blew or tossed them away. He noticed how her icy blue eyes would sparkle in a certain way when she became excited or anxious.

* * *

"John? Well, that's old news. I already found out about his name," I replied, blowing my bangs away from my face.

"How?"

"From Peter," I answered simply. She laughed.

"Peter? That's what he wants you to call him?"

"Yeah," I replied slowly."What else would he possibly want me to call him?"

She didn't answer right away. When she did, her voice was full of grief but strangely unwavering.

"You should talk to him, Brooke. You know about your parents now. There's nothing more I can do. Except let you have your way."

I didn't hide my confusion from her."What? My way? Talk to him about what? I-" then the phone made a soft click and the other line went dead. She hung up on me!

"Ugh!" I exclaimed in frustration. I held the phone in a death grip and was about to send it crashing against the wall, but Peter snatched it away before I could do so.

"You might not want to do that,'' he said to me, half amused.

"Sorry," I uttered, embarrassed. "I'm just so, so-"

"Angry?"

Kurt was the one who finished my sentence. I tried to control my voice as I said,"Yeah, exactly." I flashed him one of my flirty smiles. I couldn't tell if he noticed it, though.

"Brooke," Peter began, facing me. "There's one thing I should mention."

My heart was fluttering in my chest. Another piece was being fitted into the puzzle.

"My name is Peter Tezla," he murmured almost too quiet for me to hear.

Wow. That's big news?

"That's great, but how's that very important? I mean, you have a great last name and all, but-"

"That's your last name Brooke," he interrupted smiling.

"Mine? How?" I blurted out. I wasn't a Tezla. I couldn't be one. Unless...

"I'm your Uncle, Brooke," Peter replied, eyes downcast.

I wasn't surprised. Well, not too surprised. Why else would he be so interested in me? I should have known that something this great really wouldn't have happened to me because of my skills. I wasn't talented enough to get a real job. He must have been pretending when he said that I was chosen for my talents.

"I knew it," I breathed, as quiet as possible.

"You knew? How could you have known?" Peter questioned me, eyebrows lifting.

"I meant that I saw this coming. I mean, why else would you have chosen me? I have no talents or special reasons for being here. You had to have wanted me for some other reason. I'm your niece,so-"

"Brooklyn Tezla, you may be my niece, and yes, I want you here, but you are very talented. Don't say you aren't because you are."

"How would you know?" I answered coldly. "You never came for me anyway."

I knew I struck a cord. I wanted to take it back but pride made me bite my tongue.

"You don't know how much I wanted to come and keep you." _Ha. Apparently, he loved to lie to me_.

"Plus, I know that you can hot wire a car, build an engine, and that you've competed in many races," he added smiling.

Woah. Okay, maybe he did know a little about me. "I wouldn't really call it talents," I muttered, twiddling my fingers.

A new voice surprised me by saying, "Not talents? _I_ can't even hot wire a car!" I turned and realized that it was Kurt. I blushed like mad.

"Really?" I asked him, completely interested. He nodded. I flushed with pride.

"Brooke, you do possess many talents. You know much about cars, races...and us," Peter let the last two words slip into his sentence as if they didn't really matter. Oh, it mattered to me.

"Us? How could I know about all of-"

"Show me your hand," Peter commanded, firmly. I gasped suddenly. My hand reflexively shot up and covered my palm with the scar. Oh, no. Not know!

"Why?" I asked the question to distract him from forcing me to show it to him.

"Why? Why not?" He replied, as if daring me to answer him. I couldn't think of what to say so I gave up. I lowered my gaze until my eyes were staring holes into my shoes. I knew that there was nothing I could do. I lifted my arm slowly, then threw up my palm, making sure everyone saw what was upon it.


	21. Chp 21 Vert

My blood rushed to my face, no matter how hard I tried to prevent it. It was so embarrassing to be standing there, showing everyone in the room my stupid scar, which was currently glowing red against my palm. _What are they thinking? I hope they don't believe that I did this to myself._

"It's not a tattoo, if that's what you're thinking," I stated defensively. I only let down my arm when it started to hurt from holding it up for so long.

"I believe that," Dr.Tezla replied, gesturing for me to accompany him into the conference room. I had no choice but to follow him.

He shut the doors closed behind him, casting the room in a deeper shade. There were no windows, unless you considered the huge floor-to-ceiling wall of glass which was firmly placed in the front of the spacious room to look out among the center of this big building.

He paced the perimeter of the conference room before beginning. "Why?" He cast a sidelong glance my way which resulted in me staring at the bottom of my shoes. His gaze was calm but demanding.

"Why what?" I questioned him, muttering softly. I could feel the rising tension that possessed the room like unwanted spirits.

"_Why what_? Why didn't you show me this before? It could have saved me a lot of trouble-"

"I didn't know that it was of any significant importance to you," I began, my confidence rising. "Try to understand that."

His gaze was unwavering and mine was locked in place to his. Neither of us blinked or stirred. After an agonizing ten seconds, he cracked a small grin. "Well said. Just like your father."

My heart thumped at a sad pace. I really wished that I had had the chance to know him. My thoughts were apparently readable on my face for he added,"That's a good thing, though." I smiled to reassure him that I understood the concept. _He's only trying to make me feel better __about this_, I thought.

"Now," He started, seating himself in an empty chair."I want to know your story."

I sighed and sat across from him. "It's pretty long," I warned him, crossing my arms.

"That's fine. I've got nothing but time."

So I began my story by explaining the day that I was almost flattened by that car. I started off slowly and carefully but it gradually got easier and I found myself using hand gestures, voicing my thoughts, and speaking in a louder tone. It felt good to let all my thoughts and feelings being lifted away and free to flow from my mouth to wiser ears. It helped to ease away my tension as well as open my mind to someone much more important than me.

"...and so it cut open my hand, and I tried to wipe away my blood but I saw this." I held up my palm for emphasis.

He stayed silent the whole time, only speaking when he told me his opinion of my friend, Stacy.

"A bright girl," He had commented calmly. I had nodded my head and finished the rest of my story.

"So," he declared, suddenly standing. I mimicked his action. "Do you still have visions or have they subsided since then?"

"Well," I uttered slowly,"They are not as frequent as before, but they are still pretty common. They appear without warning which is the only flaw."

"Oh? How so?"

"Because," I tried to find the right words,"They'll appear in my mind whether I want them to or not, and sometimes it happens when I'm in the middle of doing something important. One time it happened at school during one of the most important test of the year! It took up almost ten minutes of our time to complete the test. I had to rush through the remaining questions, but I still didn't get finished with it in time. Luckily, a redo was possible so instead of a D, I got a B...but just barely," I added, pointing my index finger at him in case he saw that as a good sign.

"That is a pretty big flaw," Peter concluded, intertwining his fingers together and folding them behind his back. He returned to his pacing.

"What vision of yours could have possibly taken ten minutes to see?"

My forehead creased and I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate on remembering the vision.

"_There was a man, dressed in a racing suit of white, blue, and gray_," I described, keeping my eyes closed and my voice calm and monotonous.

"_None of my visions are completely clear, but I believe that the man was sitting in a room, almost __like this one. The walls consisted of a dull gray and bright purple colors. He sat in a chair, sitting __across from a man in his middling years, maybe in his late thirties_. '_Vert,' he began in an almost pleading tone, 'Please understand the situation.' " _

I chanced a peek at Dr.Tezla, opening my eye just a crack. He was now sitting in the chair. His knuckles were solid white from gripping the edges of his chair so hard. His eyes were big and wide, the shape his mouth was forming. I became concerned so I stopped. I turned in my seat so I faced him.

"Peter, you okay?"

He still seemed like he was in a state of pure shock. His eyes never moved and neither did his death grip on the arms of the chair.

"Hello?" I waved my hands in front of him, trying to catch his attention. He finally shifted his eyes my way. His stiff board look quickly softened and his knuckles became a peach color again. Phew.

"Brooke, it is very important that you repeat this information to everyone else here," he concluded, finally getting his voice back. "They need so much to know this and the rest of the story, if you don't mind."

My thoughts immediately went to this conclusion:_ Whatever I just said must be of real importance __if he reacted to it in such a fashion. _

After some consideration, I finally muttered,"Fine." He seemed pleased with my answer. Peter then walked out of the room and out the door, walking up some steps to somewhere else. I stayed in the conference room, sinking back into my chair.

Some minutes past and my eyes slowly closed. I probably only rested for about ten minutes when I heard a loud noise. My hand instinctively reached for the alarm clock to turn off the annoying sound. I felt only air. I then remembered where I was. I sat up in the chair, my back sending a small jolt of discomfort up the length of my spine. All my bones seemed to crack as I stood and stretched. The loud noise sounded again.

"I repeat: Important meeting in the conference room now." Then the room was silent. I realized that it was an intercom that had woken me a few seconds ago. I groaned. I knew that they would all be heading this way and arrive shortly into this room. I dashed out of the room and searched frantically for a bathroom...then collided with someone.

I stumbled from the impact and almost fell flat on my face but the other person helped me up to my feet. I was at eye-to-eye level with him/her. I gasped and almost fell again when I saw that it was Nolo!

"Oops, sorry. I wasn't paying atten-" He faltered and his lips curled into a playful smile. "Hey, I didn't think I'd see you here."

I must have really been showing my surprise because he laughed. "Left you speechless, huh?"

I couldn't help but laugh then. "I was wondering when I'd see you here. I didn't know you worked here."

He let me go and added,"More than that. I'm the leader of the TEKU." His chest swelled with pride.

That made me grin even more. I flashed him my scar."I guess I'm a pretty big fan."

He gave me a knowing look. "I heard about that from Kurt." He suddenly smiled again. "Visions,huh?"

I gave him a playful shove. "Hey, It's not like I plan for them to happen. Anyway, I probably should have guessed that you'd be here. Remember all those races we competed in? The one against Daniel? Oh, he was a great competitor."

"That he was," agreed Nolo. He played with a strand of his hair. "You and I barely beat him that time."

"I know. But I wasn't thinking about him, I was trying to beat you. I came close, too."

"You were a tough competitor as well. Just, not quite as good as me, though," he boasted, as if he was trying to make me mad.

"I agree," I answered instead. He flashed a confused look.

"I don't understand it. You had such a temper then. Don't tell me that it's not still there."

I shook my head. "No, it's not gone, but I'm doing better at concealing it." Before he could reply, I took off for the bathroom. I really had to go! I heard his laughter all the way down the hall.

* * *

Nolo shrugged off the pack that he had carried snugly across his back. He arrived in front of the Acceledrome. _Home at last! _he thought, sighing contentedly. The sound of banging and welding echoed through the room and he welcomed the noises to enter his mind. He truly felt at ease when he saw his fellow teammates working on their cars. He watched as Shirako tested the volume of his soundsystem. A normal person would have covered their ears but Nolo was so use to it that he actually found it quite relaxing.

"Wow," said Nolo, loud enough for all of them to hear. "I expected a welcome back party but I guess your miserable faces work just as fine."

Kurt rolled his eyes while Karma laughed lightly, almost too lightly for anyone to hear, especially since Shirako was still testing his music. He searched the room for Vert, but caught himself before uttering his name. He remembered that Vert was gone. This made him feel immediate regret for his missing driver. Kurt noticed.

"Hey Nolo. How was your trip back home?" Kurt tried to get Nolo's mind away from the saddening thoughts.

"Pretty good. But I missed home. _This_ home."

Kurt nodded in understanding. Nolo sat his pack down on the floor and rushed into his room, eager to settle down and calm his bleating heart..."Important meeting in the conference room. I repeat: Important meeting in the conference room."

* * *

I gasped and gripped a clump of my hair. I looked awful!

My hair was sticking out in almost every direction, my eyes were red from my lack of appropriate sleep, and my mouth was set into a tight frown. These I must change. I turned on the sink and got my hands wet to flatten out my hair. After this was done, I splashed water over my face and tied my hair back into a ponytail, my side swept bangs falling over my right eye.

"Best I can do," I spoke aloud. I took off my jacket and tried to flatten the wrinkles in my shirt. I heard a soft clink after I sat the jacket on the bathroom floor. I reached into my jacket pocket and took my ipod out of it. _I really should be more careful with this_.

_Well, time to explain the vision again. Why are they so interested in it? Who's Vert anyway? And why did Peter react as he did? _These questioned stayed glued to the inside of my mind as if they could never be released. _Will I ever really know?_


	22. Chp 22 Explanations

As I entered the now not-so-uncommon conference room, my nervousness overwhelmed we. My legs began to feel like gelatin jello as my palms began to sweat. I tried wiping them against my pant leg, but it caused a sweat stain. _Oh, brilliant! That's very attractive!_

On my way there, I passed Karma. We exchanged side-ways glances toward each other. Apparently, my face explained it all because she cracked a small grin, whispering,"It's alright. All you're doing is explaining a vision to us...stay away from Wylde,though."

I almost laughed out loud. "I was planning to do just that!"

As we entered the conference room, I shivered and not just because of the below freezing temperature in there. It was also because of the 18 pairs of eyes following my every move. Well, 16. Shirako was paying more attention to his music than me. I smiled at him. _Typical Shirako_.

This time, the only available seat was in between Shirako and Kurt...and across from Wylde. _Great. Just my luck_.

I was fuming by the time I sat down. Wylde gave me a playful wink. I ignored him.

There it was again. An awkward silence. Luckily, Peter walked in just then, saying,"Alright. You all should know why you're here. If not, it is because Brooke has something very important to tell us. It's about a vision she had before."

_Okay_, I thought. _What an uncle. He not only crushes lives, he embarrasses them, as well_. I tried to become invisible. I only ended up being slumped in my seat, blood red.

"Brooke?"

I glanced toward Peter. He was watching me quizzically. "Hmmm?" I answered, coming out of my absent-minded state.

"Are you going to begin?" Peter questioned, trying not to laugh, it seemed.

"Oh!" I exclaimed, sitting straighter. Wylde, to my utter irritation, began to laugh. I glared at him, then became a little better confident. For some reason, I felt very comfortable around these people. I pulled up my legs and leaned my knees against the table without realizing it. I rested my head on them. Then, to my utter surprise, Peter actually bursted out laughing. I wasn't the only one to look at him strangely this time.

"Um, did I do something wrong?" I suddenly felt very insignificant. What's up with him?

Peter finally gained control enough to say,"Your father was always sitting as you are now. He said that it was the only way he could concentrate."

I actually smiled. "Hey, that's like me. I always have to sit like this when I do my homework. The only problem with that habit is when I'm taking a test at school in those small, uncomfortable desks, I can never raise my knees. The desks are too tiny!"

Peter laughed again ,and I joined him. It felt so nice to be with someone who took me seriously. I was about to continue with our talk, when I realized we weren't alone. I chanced a peek at their faces. Shirako seemed weirdly pleased. Kurt wasn't staring, just watching. Karma smiled as I looked at her. Porkchop was,well, Porkchop. He was still staring at me as though I couldn't be trusted. I felt like back-handing him. Nolo, trying hard to conceal it, was stealing glances at Loni(I smirked at that but said nothing, of course. I had already embarrassed Monkey. There was no sense in embarrassing everyone! At least not today...).

Monkey was busy writing frantically into a plain white notepad. From what I could tell, it was the most complicated mathematical equation known to man. The dude never stopped scribbling them down. My brain began to hurt, so I moved on. The next one my eyes fell upon was a man with jet black hair, tied back into a ponytail. His eyes were green and slightly slanted, revealing nothing. He did seem as if he had an attitude. I instantly knew I'd like this one. Tork came next. He didn't seem to be angry, just a little sad. I didn't know why. Last, and I regretted it later, came Wylde. As I changed views, I wondered what he'd be doing. To my surprise, he was leaning dangerously low in the seat, his feet propped up on the table. As he noticed me staring at him, he immediately grinned mischievously, winking playfully at me again. I tried ignoring him, but it was impossible. Wylde was the most interesting one there. For one, the mechanical arm screamed for attention. For another thing, he was the only one who seemed completely at ease and, unlike everyone else, was always giving me those winks that made me want to slap him. I looked back at Peter. "I'm sorry 'bout that. I forgot about what we were all in here for." I tried making my eyes scan the whole lot of people, muttering,"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bore you or ignore you like that..."

Nolo finally tore his gaze away from Loni. "Brooke," he said, facing me,"Don't worry about it. Just tell us what you know."

I smiled weakly. I squeezed my knees more tightly together and closed my eyes simultaneously. The only thing I was going to do was repeat what I saw before as best I could. Somehow, as I tried to recall the vision, it happened again. The vision started all over again. Fortunately, I was still conscious enough of the people listening that I could explain as I saw it...

I watched as a blonde young man was driving in a car, wearing a helmet. _"There's a young man. He's blonde with spiky hair, I think. His helmet conceals most of his hair ,so I may not be correct about it."_

I noticed his outfit. _"He's wearing a racing outfit, with a white helmet. He seems very determined." _He is traveling at an angle, inside a rather large building.

_"He's traveling at an angle. He's inside a huge building that appears very modern. He says,'You should be with us Gig!' and is about to enter some kind of portal." _It went like this for a few minutes. Then, as I came to the part about where Vert had gone, the whole room felt very tense. I continued anyway. _"He's outside a huge white and purple building, very modern. Vert and "Sparky" seem puzzled. They've never been here before. The doors just opened. Now a couple of robots similar to Gig are surrounding the vehicle." _For some reason, my whole body became rigid and I began to squeeze the chair's arm rests until my knuckles turned white. _"Vert doesn't seem to realize what's happening. His door is opening and his belt is unfastening under someone else's control. He's looking at Sparky frantically as he begins to say,'Sparky, press the ED-' Oh, they have him!Not the Gig duplicates, but these other larger robots, similar to people. They're grabbing him and forcing him to follow them. They also took something from him. A ring with symbols from the back seat. It's kind of-oh!"_ I fell out of my chair. I was too busy concentrating on my vision to notice the pain or who helped me up. I focused a little harder now.

_"My visions a little blurred...oh now he's in a chair. He's gazing around, noticing a band of those robots putting together some kind of three or four ringed portal, like the one he entered earlier. He's trying to make a break for it, but he's getting surrounded."_ I hadn't noticed, but my voice had risen several octaves and my face had gone pale. _" 'Who are you? What are you trying to hide?' he says, as a robot who seems to be the leader, steps up to Vert. He's taking off his helmet! I-I can't see his face!!"_ I stood from wherever I was, pacing.

* * *

Shirako was watching Brooke with nervous eyes. After her slight conversation with , she was about to explain the vision she had had before. Shirako rapped his knuckles against his leg, feeling very nauseous. As he watched, Brooke's eyes seemed to be staring off into space, seeing nothing. Her face was strangely blank, her eyes quickly clouding. Shirako couldn't believe it. Even seeing the transformation wasn't enough. He only then believed in her power when she began to speak. "There's a young man. He's blonde with spiky hair, I think. his helmet conceals most of his hair, so I may not be correct about it."

Shirako gasped aloud. He wasn't the only one. Nolo had gone pale as a sheet, muttering something inaudible. It sounded like "Vert". No one was bored now. Even Wylde had sat up straight, staring at Brooke as if for the first time.

"He's wearing a racing outfit, with a white helmet. He seems very determined."

Shirako had to admit. It _did _sound like Vert. Brooke didn't stop there, though. As she talked, Shirako became more and more worried about her. From the way she looked, he didn't know if she would ever get out of her trance. "...he's outside a huge white and purple building, very modern. Vert and-" Shirako noticed her change in tone. She seemed to actually get concerned all of a sudden. Her story was lasting a while, but Shirako wasn't paying any attention to his discomfort or the fact that his butt was going numb from sitting in the same position for so long.

"A ring with symbols from the back seat. It's kind of-oh!" Then, Shirako watched as Brooke's chair tilted backwards as she fell, her feet being the only thing visible. He reacted the quickest. He stood and bolted towards her in a flash, lifting her just with his left arm.

* * *

"Wait! Wait, I see him! The robot is-" I stopped mid-sentence. My mouth opened, but no sound came out. Had I seen it right? Had I heard right? I just couldn't believe what I had witnessed in my mind.

"Brooke? Brooke, can you hear me?" It was Peter. Of course, I could hear him. I was just too stunned to reply back.

"Brooke! Brooke, come back. We heard what we need, alright?" It was Shirako's voice. Peter scowled.

"Shirako! What are you saying? We need to know who that silencer was." This was Peter's agitated voice. Silencer? I had no idea what a "silencer" was.

I decided. It was time to return back to reality. I struggled to get back. I really did. It felt as though someone was shaking me, as if that could bring me out of my trance.

I really wished it would have...


	23. Chp 23 Related

The worst of all situations is when you know you're _in_ a situation. I definitely knew I was in deep trouble this time.

"Brooke! Brooke, it's over alright? We don't need to know anything else..." I heard Shirako's distant voice in my ear. Somehow, I knew he was close, but I couldn't see anyone. My current vision of mine wasn't over, it seemed. It was as if it didn't want me to leave and was holding me in...I was scared to death!

"Brooke?" Peter Tezla questioned, watching the dealings with an interested (and slight concerned) eye.

Brooklyn Tezla was now known for her unusually accurate visions of the Teku and Metal Maniacs teams. Her "power" was being used now, though she didn't even plan for it to occur at that moment. As she was planning to describe an earlier vision of Vert, it had happened again. This one, like all of her other visions, were out of her control.

Shirako wouldn't stop shaking her, saying "Brooke?" over and over aloud. He began to jerk her, and her head actually lolled to one side. Tears brimmed his eyes but were trying to be contained. His headphones slid off his head, bouncing against the floor twice before stopping at Nolo's feet. Nolo hadn't noticed this, however. He was too busy watching the scene with a worried expression firmly plastered on his face. He and Kurt reacted together as they gripped Shirako's arms and began to try and pry him from his grip on Brooke. They were afraid he would accidentally hurt her, and that wouldn't be a good thing.

"Shirako! Calm it down some, alright? She's going to be fine," Kurt pleaded to Shirako. Kurt had doubts about that, but kept them to himself. He didn't want to make it worse for Shirako, not the way he was acting now.

"No! Let go, we have to help her!" Shirako screamed, jerking as hard as he could against Kurt and Nolo's hold on him. He couldn't contain the tears now. They began slow, then flowed freely down his face. Nolo almost choked up then and there. Seeing Shirako in this state was truely shocking. He had never seen him cry or yell as much as he did then. As much as they tried, Shirako was overpowering them. Pretty soon, they'd have to tackle him.

Porkchop decided to take matters into his own hands.

Porkchop shoved Nolo and Kurt out of the way, wrapping his big and muscular arms around the now squirming Shirako. As much as he tried, Shirako couldn't move enough to be freed. When Shirako noticed who it was, he actually stopped crying for a split second. _Porkchop? Helping the Teku? Helping him_? He couldn't believe that. He always thought that Porkchop hated his guts. Why help him _now_?

"Don't make it difficult, Shirako," Porkchop growled, but at a soft and knowing tone. Shirako gave him a quizzical frown. _Shirako_ and not _Stinku_? _Wow_, Shirako thought. _Something's changed him_...

_"Son," Mr. Wheeler began, showing his your-in-trouble look. "We need to talk."_

_Vert didn't even try to hide his surprise at seeing his father. "Dad?" he asked, although he already knew who it was just by his voice alone. _

_"What are you-why are you.." Vert tried twice to voice all his questions into one. He was having a lot of trouble. Of all things to do, his father was working against them?_

_"Here. Sit. I was expecting you sooner, but this is just as convenient," Mr. Wheeler motioned for his son to follow him to a nearby table. Hesitantly, Vert did as he said. He sat his helmet on the table as he sat next to his father. This was going too fast for him. It took all his strength not to burst into a wave of endless questions. He waited for his father to begin, because he knew what would result in himself beginning the conversation._

_"Vert. This is very important. Are you alone?" Mr. Wheeler eyed his son up and down. He made a mental note to ask about his current attire later._

_"W-what? Yes, yes I'm alone. Why ask?" Vert answered, finally getting his emotions in check._

_"Because. If Dr. Tezla were to be with you, it would be crucial for us to know."_

_Vert lifted an eyebrow. Talk about being enemies. "Well?" Vert commented, crossing his arms. "Care to explain why you're working with these, these-"_

_"People?" Mr. Wheeler cut in, smiling. Vert's eyes widened. "People? I thought they were robots. Like the drones." _

_Mr. Wheeler cracked a small grin."No Vert. They're people. We have on these suits when we deal with the certain "chemical" creations we've made. They also come in handy to help you become transparent. An extra Michael designed. It's come in handy, too."_

_Vert just gaped at his father. He wasn't making any sense. He knew how they could morph their cars, but become transparent? That was new!_

_"Oh," was all Vert could manage to say._

"Help her into a chair or something. She keeps falling!" Karma held Brooke's side, trying to prop her up against herself. Karma kept having to lift Brooke every time her strength let her. Brooke was falling again. It was as if she was remembering how to hold herself up, then forget and fall to the floor. Karma's only conclusion was that she was trying desperately to return to reality, but it was slipping her grasp every time she attempted it.

Kurt turned her way and caught Brooke before she hit ground. Karma silently thanked him and propped open the door for him to carry her to the infirmary.

Kurt realized her intentions and obeyed without argument.

Only when the door slammed shut behind Kurt did Porkchop release his hold on Shirako. As soon as he let him go, Shirako bolted out the door to catch up to Kurt. Before he left the room, Porkchop said, "Why do you care so much Shirako? She's just a girl."

Porkchop actually backed a step when he noticed the glare Shirako was giving him. Shirako _never_ glared.

"Because," Shirako replied, using a deadly tone. "What are brother's for?"

Shirako then left the room, leaving behind a group of very surprised people...


	24. Chp 24 Having Fun With Pillows

"Did he say-" Porkchop began, turning toward Karma as if to confirm what he was implying. Karma nodded briefly and walked out of the conference room.

Porkchop mimicked her action, followed by Nolo, Kurt, Wylde, Taro, Monkey, and Tork. This was big news, and they wanted to know all the details.

As the group was heading towards the conference room, Shirako had placed a hand gently on Brooke's left forearm, trying to calm her. She was tossing and turning in an almost constant motion, perspiration beginning to coat her forehead.

"It's alright, Brooke. I'm never going to leave you again." As he pulled his hand away, the others began to enter the room. Shirako gave Porkchop a glare, but otherwise showed no other emotion. Instead, he muttered, "I was planning to tell you, but I wasn't sure myself. We had never met before, so it was a bit difficult to tell." Karma gave him a smile of understanding. No one else was as smooth as she to the sudden news, however.

"What? You're joking, right?" Nolo laughed, until he noticed how serious Shirako's face had become. "No I'm not," Shirako replied.

"Wait," Wylde started, looking directly at Dr. Tezla. "I thought she was your niece."

Tezla smiled. "She is. I'll allow Shirako to explain."

All eyes stared at Shirako and his unmoving facial expression. He finally sighed, and began.

"She's actually a half-sister. Her mother was also mine. My mother's white, but my father's Asian. A few years after I was born, they divorced. My-our-" Shirako corrected, gazing in Brooke's direction, "mother gave me up, giving full custody to my father. Later, after about four years, I learned that she re-married and gave birth to a daughter. I had never met her before. I only learned of her existence when I happened to see Brooke's picture as a baby in the newspaper. 'Congratulations Annalee and John on your baby girl-Brooklyn Tezla' it said across the headline. I tied two and two together after that." Shirako finished, adding (with a smile),"Yes, if you add up all that math, I'm twenty-four and Brooke's sixteen."

Another awkward silence. Finally, Taro said, "Dude, you'll hate it."

Shirako looked his way. "Huh?" he asked, forehead creasing. Taro smirked.

"You're gonna hate having a sister. You're lucky this one's as smart as she is."

Shirako actually cracked a grin at that comment. Then he gazed at his younger sister's whimpering form. "Lucky's right," he muttered darkly.

Stop it! Leave this state of mind and travel back! I had tried for the fifteenth time to release myself from this vision, but again, it was pointless. I wasn't even close to leaving now...

_"Vert, I'll just come out and say it. I was the one who began this place. With a little help from a certain spy of ours," Mr. Wheeler continued, watching for his son's reaction. All he gave him was a firm nod._

_"After the World Race you competed in, I asked Dr. Tezla about how he built his cars and such. I learned very little, but enough to look into it further. Later, I met someone who created a way to make one's self become invisible. We made plans to meet and discuss "business". We planned after that a way to steal some information from Dr. Tezla. We were going to steal a lot more, but only ended up taking the data for creating what he called "Gig". It gave us enough information to create a lot more, and finally, with my partners help, cars to help us out. We learned all about the Wheel of Power and the Accelechargers from our spy, "Gig". Yes, he was Dr. Tezla's robotic assistant. But when we snuck into the Acceledrome, we gave Gig an almost transparent microchip so he'd obey us and send us all the information we needed. It worked exactly as planned..." _

My eyes fluttered open. I had succeeded? That didn't seem possible. I was so shocked of my sudden comeback to reality that I actually gasped aloud. Someone close to me stirred. I glanced towards the movement. Shirako, _the poor thing_, I thought, was sitting in a chair directly beside my bed(when did I get in bed?) with his head resting on my knees. I smiled. Then I began to worry. _What was he doing here? He should be in bed, not worrying about me!_

I was angry with him, so I shifted my leg out from under him. He fell forward and his eyes snapped open. He sat up groggily, rubbing his eyes. When he focused on me, his eyes widened and he smiled. "Welcome back," he said, mulling over my expression. I hoped my face read my irritation.

"Welcome back? That's it? I-" Shirako interrupted me with his laughter.

"What should I say then? Hello? That doesn't seem appropriate," he remarked, his smile widening. I lifted my leg from under the blanket and tried to kick him. He dodged easily. It was a good thing, too. My foot would have hit him square in the face.

"No, Shirako! That's not what I meant. I mean, just 'Welcome back'? Why not start with anwering this:Why are you here?"

He seemed confused. "To race, of course."

"Ugh!" I lugged my pillow at him. This time, I didn't miss. It smacked him in the head. He almost fell out of his chair. He would have if he hadn't have grabbed the bed railing a second after. To my utter annoyance, he was laughing. I tried to still seem angry, but I couldn't help but start to laugh along with him. He had that kind of power over you.

When I could catch my breath, I said, "I know to race, stupid. I meant, why are you here, in my room?" I looked quickly around. "I mean the infirmary? Why do you even care about me at all? Nobody seems to really like me, anyway. Why should you?"

My questions were like a slap in the face to him, it seemed. As his shock deceased, he angrily snapped, "Of course. Why should a brother care a thing for his sister?"

His words hadn't sunken in yet as I angrily snapped back. "That's a lame excuse for being-" Then it hit me full force. I actually became a little winded by his response.

"Brother? Your my-" I couldn't finish my sentence fast enough for Shirako. His face revealed a mix of emotions. He quickly explained how it had all happened and why I didn't even know I had a brother!

"Really? How could she do that? How could she have kept me away from them, and you? Man, my life is a never-ending novel of a journey known only as fiction!!"

Shirako laughed lightly. I turned to stare at him. "What?" I asked, bewildered by his action. He looked at me with a playful expression.

"That must be why your love of music is like mine, huh? You may be my sister, but I'm still the better music mixer. Remember that contest all those years ago? If you remember correctly, I won."

I held my mouth open in surprise. He was right. That competition a few years ago was against my own brother!

"That may be," I replied, sitting up a little straighter. I got his attention. "But I don't suppose you know how to hot wire a car, do you?"

His response was to throw my pillow back at me. It hit my left arm. "Hey!" I shouted, laughing. "Now you've done it!"

There were several infirmary beds with more ammunition. I took hold of my pillow as Shirako grabbed the closest off one of the infirmary beds. It was war.

I waited for him to make the first move. We both crouched, pretending to be enemies, planning an attack on the other. Shirako swung the pillow my way as I did the same with mine. We both missed. He wasn't very good at aiming and neither was I. That didn't stop us. I ran to fetch mine, while Shirako grabbed another off a different bed. As I reached down to grab mine, he threw his as hard as he could. It rammed its target: my right side. The collision knocked me off balance and I fell over, acting hurt.

Shirako was laughing, but I remained motionless. He hesitated. "Brooke?" he asked, concerned. I said nothing, trying hard not to smile. He ran toward me. Before he could react, I chucked the pillow toward him, hitting him smack in the chest. He wasn't expecting that, and he dropped his own pillow. Perfect!

I scrambled up and snatched his pillow from off the floor. I was close to him now, ready to strike. I was almost successful, for if he hadn't of gotten to me first, I would have pommeled him.

Because of our now nearness to each other, he was able to wrap his arms around my waist and sling me around like a rag doll. I shrieked, "Shirako! Put me down!" I tried wriggling away, but I couldn't. I started laughing then. He stopped his whirling attack on me, but started to wrestle me for the pillow. I wouldn't let him have it. We were both laughing so hard that we couldn't do anything right. I missed and he stumbled over my foot. He hit the floor with a "thump!" That caused even more laughter on my account.

"See? Who's the better sibling now?" I waved the pillow in his face. He couldn't accept defeat. His left hand wrapped around my right leg and he pulled. I tried to keep my balance, but I just caused myself to fall over him.

"Hey!" I managed to say before another laughing fit occured. "That-(laughter)-wasn't(giggle)-very(gasping)-nice!" That caused an even longer laughing fit. I didn't know Shirako could make me laugh so hard in my life. My side began to hurt from laughing so much.

Then, they all entered the room. Well, the Teku team. Karma first, then Kurt, followed by Nolo. When they saw I was back, they seemed relieved. Then, when they took in the scene-me gasping for air while Shirako was doing the same, both of us sprawled on each other-they all looked worried. That did it. I started another round of well-needed laughter. Shirako joined in and Karma laughed at us lightly.

"Are you okay, Brooke?" Karma asked me, watching my face to try and figure it all out. I was still busy snickering.

"Yeah, I'm fine. My brother,on the other hand, is a little mental. On the other hand, I did start the pillow fight,so..you decide."

Kurt looked at me quizzically. I didn't know why. Was it that wierd? "What?" I finally remarked, stopping my laughter abruptly. Kurt kept looking towards me, then Shirako, then back at me. Kurt frowned.

"I knew it," he mumbled as he walked over and helped Shirako up. "You don't look a thing like Shirako."

I stifled a laugh. "Maybe not. One thing's for sure, though," I replied, smirking at Shirako. Shirako asked, "What?"

I grinned his way. "We both have zero hand-eye-coordination whatsoever." Shirako and I laughed at our little joke. Kurt just scowled.

Karma gave Kurt a what's-your-problem look. Kurt glared at Shirako and me. "Are they going to be like this from now on?"

The days that followed weren't so bad. I had a brother, who helped to ease my fears. I wasn't scared of the Acceledrome or the racers or anything like that. It was the visions. I was afraid a repeat was coming...

"Brooke? It's time," declared, staring straight at me. I gulped. Shirako, sitting on my left, squeezed my shaking hand. I looked over at him and gave him the most reassuring smile I could muster. We were all gathered together in the conference room, the room which was my least favorite now.

I inhaled and exhaled slowly. "Alright. I'll tell you about my vision before. But," I added, pointing a finger at Tezla,"I'm only going to tell you the important parts and in not such a descriptive view, either. I DO NOT want a repeat of last time." I shivered, remembering how Shirako had explained how I had acted during that time. The part about me falling out of my chair made him laugh, causing me to laugh with him, _again_.

"Okay. The robot I was explaining that was with Vert.....it was his father." Tezla frowned. Karma nodded. Nolo looked completely in shock. Monkey almost choked on his shake. Wylde stopped his fascination with me and glanced at his brother, Kurt. Kurt was a little shaken, if nothing else. I chanced a peek at my own brother. He hadn't moved. His hand, which was still enveloped in mine, squeezed my hand in a death grip. I yelped in pain.

"S-sorry, Brooke.." Shirako muttered, beginning to muse over what I said to them. I massaged my pulsing palm and continued. "His father asked him to sit and he did so. They talked about things, things I couldn't really understand..." I went ahead and told them everything Vert and his father had said but nothing else, afraid to triggger another "vision." I wanted to avoid them as much as I could.

"Wow. His own father. Interesting..." Tezla mused, pushing his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose. I cleared my throat. "May I leave now?" I asked, resisting the urge to take out my ipod. He nodded and I dashed out of the room. Shirako followed.

"What's wrong, Brooke?" Shirako asked me, worry plainly written across his face. I snorted. "Nothing's wrong. Stop worrying so much." For some reason, this ticked him off. He ran ahead of me and stopped abruptly. I came to a hault. If I hadn't have, I would have collided with him.

"I have EVERY right to worry about you! You're my sister, a blood relation. I care about you, Brooke. This isn't everyday life, you know. You have visions of what's going to happen. When you do, you have no control of your actions, and I NEVER know if you'll return or not. You were lucky this time that it only lasted a few hours. What if it happens again? I don't want to lose you!" Shirako yelled, gripping my shoulders tightly to make sure he had my attention. No need for that. He already had it.

I couldn't stop myself. I hugged him. I wrapped my arms around his slim waist and held him tightly. He was a bit taken aback, but responded a second later by hugging back. He stroked my hair gently. "I'm sorry," he remarked softly. "I didn't mean to yell at you."

I laughed and we separated. "I know," I replied, causing him to grin. "Hey," I added, stepping around so we were side-by-side. "I'll race you to your car. First one there gets control of the sound system!"

He smirked at me, accepting the challenge. He prepared himself for the race. I mimicked him. "Alright. One..three!" I exclaimed, throwing in the "three" as quickly as I could. I laughed all the way down the hall, the stairs, and into the Teku garage. I might have given myself a head start, but Shirako still beat me. We were both out of breath, leaning against the side of Bassline. "You-(breath)-cheated!" Shirako breathlessly yelled at me. I flashed him my innocent look. He laughed and ruffled my hair. I groaned and batted his hand away. "Don't do that! I hate that!" He chuckled as I tried to fix my hair.

"That's the point!" he replied back, as if it were obvious. I smacked him in the head when he wasn't paying attention._ Brothers_! I thought, chuckling to myself. I paused, pondering that. I didn't think I'd ever be saying that to myself...I looked over at Shirako and smiled. He smiled back, pressing a button at the same time. Music filled the car with a fastbeat tempo. I whooped and began to bob my head to the beat as Shirako did the same...


	25. Chp 25 Dealing With Subjects

"Wait, this yellow wire here?" I asked, holding up the brightly-colored cord in Shirako's field of vision. He smirked."Wrong. Try again," he commanded me, turning back to his work.

I frowned and scratched my head. This was all so very confusing to me. I guessed that I would need a Y chromosome to really understand how all this worked. Okay, okay..I said to myself. Yellow to blue, no no. Blue to green...wait, what about this red cord here?

Putting together a mega sound system was harder than it looked(at least to me)! Shirako, on the other hand, finished his task an hour and fourty-five minutes ago. Since he stole the instructions earlier to teach me himself, it was taking a lot longer. It didn't really matter. I wouldn't have been able to follow the instructions manual anyway. Too much of a bore and a complication on my part.

"Brooke, you really _are_ having trouble, aren't you?" Shirako questioned me mockingly. As much as I hated to admit it, I really needed his help. I nodded in defeat.

"Look," he began, scooting closer to me and showing how to do it for the twentieth time today. I thanked him by threatening to break his headphones if he ever hid the instructions again.

Finally, it was finished. The sound system was amazing. I grinned at my accomplishment. _It better be amazing_, I told myself. _I spent half an afternoon working on it!_

"So, Shirako? Who's this car for, anyway? Is this just an extra?" I asked him, skimming my hand across the hood. It was a deep blue with yellow tinted windows. I had decided to get creative with this one. Across both sides, I designed the logo TEKU in bright white letters outlined in black. The font was what I called "Halloween." The letters seemed to drip down the sides, all spelled in jagged lines. I thought it just rocked. The wierd thing was, Shirako let me do whatever I wanted to it.

Shirako looked at me like I was being stupid. Then, he did something completely mean:as I was leaning in the driver's seat to retrieve my ipod, he suddenly blasted the music through the huge sound system, causing me to jump and slam my head on the top frame. I got ticked.

"Shir-" I growled, cutting off my yell as I saw his small form racing away from me. As I was carressing my head, I dashed after him. Now that I had a brother, I now wished I had a little sister instead.

"Nolo, can you help me with this?" Loni held a heavy cardboard box in her hands, struggling not to drop it. Nolo, as soon as he heard her voice, ran over to help her.

"Sure, no prob," he replied, taking the box from her. It really _was_ heavy. "Man, what's in there? Boulders? Cement blocks?" Nolo questioned, turning to lug the box up the stairs.

Loni laughed. "Nope. They're books. For Brooke," she added, opening the flap to reveal them all. She took one out from the top and showed him. It read: Algebra. Nolo smiled.

"It's a good thing it's just for Brooke," Nolo remarked as Loni put the book back in place. "In school, I never really paid much attention," he added lightly. Lani narrowed her eyes.

"Too busy looking at girls?" Loni asked, flashing him a grin. Instead of lying to her, he grinned back and said, "You got it!"

I felt the bruise on my forehead. It wasn't swollen. That was a good sign. Now, to catch my creep of a brother and give him payback...

"Boo!"

I screamed, surprised. I was caught completely off guard and that was all Shirako intended to happen. As he laughed, I tackled him. _That_ surprised _him_, and that was all _I_ intended to happen.

"Hey, no fair!" He shouted as I yanked his headphones off his head. This was what always ticked him off. I laughed at him. "Payback," was all I managed to say before he tried to take them from me. I ran away, trying desperately to find a place to hide them from him. After all, he _did_ give me a bruise, even if it was by accident. He still deserved punishment, I decided.

"Why does she need all these books, anyway?" Nolo asked Loni, who had been busy taking all the books out of the box and onto the floor. Physics, Mathematics, Science, and Algebra were all scattered across the floor. Loni looked his way.

"Because," she said, now stacking them into piles. "When she left home, she hadn't finished school yet. If she doesn't work on all of it now, she'll have to repeat eleventh grade."

Nolo nodded. He knew how important school was to some people, especially Brooke. If she was anything like her uncle Tezla, he realized how important it must be to them both. _Besides, there's just no way Tezla will allow her to fail_, Nolo thought, helping Loni stack the rest of them.

"Brooke, report to the conference room immediately."

The intercom message echoed down the hall, the hall I was busy running through to escape my annoyed brother. I smiled and took off for the conference room. I made it inside and locked the door behind me. As I turned around, I noticed that I was not alone. Tezla sat across from where I stood, reading a book. I smirked at him and my brilliance at escaping brother trouble. I tossed the headphones on the table as I sat down. Tezla lifted an eyebrow at the headphones that I had casually tossed aside.

I flashed my teeth in a dazzling smile. "Just a little trouble with brother," I said, crossing my arms. He rolled his eyes, until he noticed my bruise. "What happ-" he tried to ask.

"Shirako happened," I muttered. "Just a harmless prank. On the other hand, if you feel like punishing him, go right ahead."

Tezla mumbled something inaudible. It sounded something like "Arguments already?"

"So," I said, streching the "s" syllable. "Whatcha reading?" I tried to examine the cover. He nodded and handed the book to me. I studied the front. It said "History" across the front cover. I groaned. I knew where this was going, and I didn't like it. "No," I answered simply.

He gave me a you-have-no-choice look. My eyes stared wholes in the floor. "Brooklyn."

I glared. "Brooke," I corrected him, handing back the book. He wouldn't let me. "It's yours to use. Believe me, you'll need it," he remarked, lifting a stack of(you guessed it) books and sitting them in my lap. I said "Woah!" before I dropped some onto the floor. He didn't seem to notice.

"You will be studying American History, Literature, Science, Biology, Chemistry, Algebra, Art, English, Mathematics, Geometry, Spanish, Economics, Physics, and Mechanics and Engineering. The last subject is something I added to the list. It's the most important to me for you to study, but you'll still have to study the rest of them as well."

I gaped at him. All those subjects!! I couldn't even keep track of all those subjects! I couldn't imagine how many lessons there was going to be. Lessons I was going to have to complete _and_ study for! My brain started to hurt just from thinking about all that...

"We'll start with American History and work our way-"

"What?" I interrupted him, trying my best to keep a light tone in my voice. I failed, miserably.

"What what?" he questioned, picking up a book I dropped and adding it to my mile-long stack. _Okay, so he noticed._

I was too upset to laugh this time. "How long do you expect me to be here? I don't want to stay here forever. I have a life. I have friends. And, even though they aren't really related to me, parents. I don't want to leave all that behind! Are you crazy?" My temper suddenly reached a pretty dangerous level. He seemed completely calm. That made me even angrier at him.

"Brooke, it's not that bad here, you know. You'll be able to do all your studies here, and go and get your degree afterward. After your studies are completed, you can stay and help us in our task to defeat the drones and the silencers. Friends? You have plenty friends here."

Angry tears brimmed under my eyelids. I forcefully blinked them back. "You don't get it," I snapped at him. I quickly stood, scattering the textbooks across the floor. I ignored that.

"Look! I didn't say you all weren't my friends, but I miss my _school _friends! My friends who happen to be my own age! I don't care about your stupid quest,either(that was a fib. I honestly cared a great deal about rescuing Vert, but what could I do?)! Maybe, I don't want to live and work here forever! Did you ever think about that? Oh, and why do you even care?! Why are you trying so much to keep me here?!"

I gasped for air. My screaming at him was tiring me. I didn't dare stop, though. I was too far in the argument to quit so soon.

I flash an angry glare his way. "I know now. You only care about using me to find one of your valuable drivers! Ugh, I hate this place and I hate YOU!!"

I had had enough. I stormed out of the room, leaving a troubled and(probably) calm uncle behind me. He had a way of keeping his emotions secret from you. He does a good job at it, too.

As I ran, crying my eyes out, down the hallway, I bumped into Shirako. He was still angry with me for taking away his headphones. Luckily, before I left the conference room, I snatched his headphones off the table. I forcefully thrust them into his open hand and took off for my room.

I heard him say "Brooke?" before I turned the corner and left him there, speechless.

Dr. Tezla frowned. That didn't go very well at all. Gig floated next to him. ", Karma has been notified and will be arriving any minute." Tezla thanked him, and Gig silently left the room.

"What have I gotten her into?" Tezla asked himself, intertwining his fingers together and resting his chin on them. _She doesn't realize just how much I care about her_.. A second after, Karma walked carefully into the room. "Yes?" she asked, concerned.

"Karma, I made a mistake with Brooke. She has currently locked herself in her room, probably still crying," he told her, Karma's facial expression changing to surprise. Tezla sighed.

"We had an argument. Well, she did all the yelling and arguing, actually." He stopped, remembering what had happened. Karma smiled in understanding.

"Of course," she replied, sitting down. "She's sixteen. She's smart, confused, and in desperate need of someone to talk to." She saw the way Tezla was frowning and added, "It's a girl thing."

This, Tezla did not understand. He never had a sister. His brother acted a lot different from his daughter, he knew that for certain. Her temper, however, matched his brother's perfectly.

"Karma? Will you go talk to her for me? I'm afraid I'll just make it worse. Besides, she said she hated me, but she didn't say a thing about you."

This threw off Karma's balance a second. _She said she hated him? Wow, she was really mad, then! _

Tezla then proceeded in telling her about what had gone on between them. Karma had her own opinion about it all, but kept her mouth shut. When he finished, she said, "Alright. I'll go talk to her for you."

I skimmed through the songs in my ipod:The Things I Hate About You(no), I Hate Everything About You(no!), Don't Hate Me(no!!!). I almost broke the stupid ipod. I was trying to get over the argument, not remember it! I felt bad enough for saying "I hate you" to his face. I didn't need a reminder! I decided on "Decode" by Paramore. I got lost in the music, humming softly with the words as she spoke them. I was so busy listening to the music that I didn't hear the knocking.

"Brooke? Can we talk?" Karma asked, keeping her voice light and friendly. No returning answer. Karma put her ear to the door. She heard light music playing and Brooke's soft voice humming along with it. She smiled. _Just like Shirako_...

"Karma?" Shirako had walked over to her, though she hadn't realized this. She jerked her head toward him.

"Is she alright?" he asked her, speaking quietly. She smiled, nodding in his direction. "Tezla and Brooke had a little "discussion." " Karma made quotation marks in the air for emphasis. He replied by handing Karma a pair of deep blue headphones with orange speakers. She looked at them, then back at Shirako. He was looking down. "They're for ," he took something out of his pocket. An envelope. "And this," he said, handing it to her. Before she could reply to his actions, he took off. She looked at the letter she was holding in her right hand. It said, "It's Good News" on the seal. She laughed. Shirako really was trying to care for his sister. She thought he was doing a very good job.

"Brooke!" Karma shouted, knocking three times on the teenager's door. After a few moments, she heard a soft "click" as Brooke unlocked the door. Karma walked into the room, shutting the door quickly behind her.

"Hey," was all Brooke decided to say. She still had her earphones in her ears and was busy listening to "All Around Me" by Flyleaf. It was one of Brooke's favorite songs.

"Hey," Karma repeated, sitting gracefully onto the edge of Brooke's bed. She noticed the song. "It's by Flyleaf, right?"

Brooke paused the song. "Yeah, it is. How'd you know?"

Karma smiled sweetly. "When you're apart of the TEKU team, you better know your music. Oh, and your innocent brother happens to have just about every song ever made on his computer. Well, just the one's he likes."

Brooke took off the earphones and slid the ipod to the side. "I should have guessed that," Brooke declared, absent-mindfully putting her legs together and holding them against herself. Her chin rested between them.

"So, I heard of what went on between you and Tezla."

I grimaced. _So that was why she came to see me...to tell me how childish I had acted. Well, I didn't feel like hearing a lecture. Not now. Not after everything that's happened! I didn't think I had been acting childish at all! Heck, I used my visions to help them all, to see if they could lead them to Vert._

"I know, I know!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands in the air. "You're here to tell me how wrong I was and how-"

"No, Brooke. It isn't that at all! Yes, Tezla wanted me to talk to you, but-"

"I knew it," I breathed, eyes downcast.

Karma sighed. She placed her hands on both sides of my face and lifted my head to face her. I wanted so much to look at anything but her. I hated to be so obedient, but I didn't really have a choice.

As my gaze met hers, she actually looked like my mother did when she wanted me to trust and understand what she was about to say.

"Brooke, I _did_ agree to talk to you about what happened, but I _didn't_ agree to say you were wrong."

I believed her. Besides, how could I not? She had nothing against me and was always kind to me. I actually smiled...then started crying.

I didn't even mean to cry so much, but I did. Karma scooted closer and hugged me, letting me rest my head on her shoulder. By the time I had stopped, her shirt sleeve was stained with my tears. I laughed, and she laughed with me.

"I'm sorry!" I said shakily, still trying to recover from my breakdown. I wiped my eyes with my sleeve.

"It's fine, Brooke. You've been under a lot of pressure lately. I mean, you learned about a brother you never knew, you start having visions, AND you just had a fight with your uncle. I'd say you've encountered a few problems..."

I laughed. "Yeah, I agree. Oh, and Shirako's the biggest problem so far."

Karma and I exchanged a few giggles at that. She perked up suddenly, and said, "Oh, I almost forgot." Karma turned around and snatched something she had sat on the floor. When she turned back towards me, she was smiling.

It was a set of headphones! In midnight blue with orange speakers! I reached for them, but Karma kept it just out of reach.

"Hey! Let me see 'em! They are mine, aren't they?" I lunged for them again, but Karma held them back a second time, laughing at my vague attempts.

"Yes, they're yours! But you can't have them yet. Not until we talk."

I stopped trying to reach them. I let my arms fall to my sides limply. "Ah, man! Come on, Karma! Don't do this to me!"

She held her ground...and my headphones. "We're going to talk about it, Brooke."

_Crap. She knew how much I'd love to have those headphones. She was using them against me...crap!_

"Alright!" I exclaimed, defeated. The bed squeaked as I shifted my position to become a little better comfortable. "Look, don't get me wrong, but I'm tired of all this, of all Peter's crap! He expects me to be just like all of you and do everything he says! And," I pointed my index finger to the ceiling, "He won't even allow me to have any friends! I miss them, terribly! I miss Stacy, Cameron, Leah, Paige, Kellie," I started naming people off the top of my head, counting down on my fingers. "A lot of my friends aren't under as much pressure as I am!" I grabbed my pillow in a death hold. I stuffed my face in it and screamed. It muffled the sound enough for no one else to hear it. Karma smiled, reassuringly.

"Believe me, I know. Remember that story I told you before? About how I lost my mother when I was four?"

I remembered. It was a drunk driver that hit them. "I remember," I replied, setting the pillow on my lap.

"It was very hard. I would sit in school and just cry. I couldn't stop myself, only try to cry as silently as I could. Teachers took pity in me and soon, I was all the teachers favorites. I was called "teacher's pet" and "cry baby" behind my back. Believe me, it hurt, the things they said. I was under a lot of pressure, too. Every time I started to feel happy, I thought of my mom and instantly decided to stay in a depression."

I listened, stunned. I hadn't realized how difficult Karma's life was. Compared to mine, maybe I was better off. My pride was hurt, though. "Well, at least you still had your dad."

She smiled, a pained smile. "I wouldn't say that. After her death, he drank and was barely ever sober. He started doing drugs, so I pretty much took care of myself from then on. I was only eight when I started doing the cooking, the laundry, and trying my best to find a job. Remember, I was only eight. I only ended up getting a job watching little toddlers as their parents left them for a few minutes. I rarely got any money for that. When I did, I kept it to supply food to feed us both."

I squeaked. _That _was a difficult life if I've ever heard one! I gripped her hand tightly. "I'm so sorry. Here I am, telling you all this nonsense of how I had it bad, when you had it worse!" I hugged her fiercly. She laughed.

"I'm fine, Brooke. Really. I've turned out alright, haven't I?" She gestured towards herself. I nodded.

"See? You'll be fine. Now, about all that homework. It's really not that hard. I majored in Literature and English, so I can help you through all that. Monkey is an expert at Mathematics, Algebra, and Chemistry. Loni is a genious at Mechanics and Engineering. Tezla-American History, Physics, and Science. You've already got all that covered!"

I snickered. "So much for a brother's help."

Karma gave me a that's-true look. "Well, you'll always know how to mix the perfect beats to form a hit song." That really hit a note. I laughed aloud, the pillow falling to the floor. "I'll also always trust him to be a fierce competitor in pillow fights!"

"Wait a minute! Nolo comes in the picture too. He can help you study your Spanish! Oh, and Kurt is the best artist I've ever seen. He's the one who chose our team name. Did you know that?"

I shook my head for once. _No, I didn't know that! _"Wait, that leaves..." I paused trying to remember them all. "Geometry, Economics, and Physics."

"Well, that's a - hang on! Taro made straight A's in Geometry and Physics. You're on your own with Economics."

I groaned. Perfect! Well, I'd take what I could get. "Okay, so this isn't so bad. But what about my friends? I'm dying to talk to someone my own age! Especially Stacy! Oh, she's a genious at Economics, anyway. I know she could help me.." I shrugged. "Too bad she couldn't just come here and stay with me. I know how much she adores planning. She has a planner she uses every day. A schedule that divides every hour. She uses it, too. Stacy even plans how long to study what subject, when to eat, and when to use the bathroom! She'd so be able to help me out here."

Karma simply nodded. "I understand. It's like being eight years old and hanging out with sixteen year olds."

I nodded, smiling. "Exactly!"

Karma leaned towards me. "Brooke, he really does care a great deal about you. He's only concerned for your education. And he doesn't want you here just to use you. That's his excuse to everyone for having you here. He loves you, but he doesn't know how to show it yet."

I snorted. "He said that?"

She shook her head. "But he didn't have to."

I didn't know if she was right or not, but I agreed with her just then. Maybe, she was right about him. But I wasn't exactly sure.

"Here," Karma said, tossing me the headphones. I gripped them greedily. I examined the artwork across the band. It said "Brooke Tezla" in those cool "Halloween" lettering. The rest of the band had the prettiest design I had ever seen. Millions of colorful loops overlapped each other in places, sometimes joining another. The colors just melted together, making it even more awe-inspiring. I pointed out the design to Karma who took in my expression with obvious pleasure.

"I told you Kurt was the most amazing artist. Do you believe me now?"

I nodded, dumbly. She laughed. "Oh, and here." She tossed an envelope my way. I caught it reflexively. The seal said "It's Good News". I laughed and tore the paper apart. The letter was written in Shirako's hand. It read:

Brooke:

I know EXACTLY how you feel. So,(I may get yelled at for this) I gave your friend Stacy an invite to the Acceledrome. I told her that you were on vacation at your uncle's. I didn't leave her instructions on how to arrive, just that someone was coming by tomorrow to pick her up. I told her to email me her address and she must have agreed as soon as she recieved my letter, because her address arrived five minutes afterward. Oh, and she thinks that Tezla, your uncle, is working as an owner of a very important auto repair shop(for rich people). We're all "mechanics".

Hopefully, she plans to stay for a week or two(don't worry. She's on summer break right now. You get three weeks off). She'll be here at nine tomorrow. That should give Tezla time to cool off. Hey, who ever said I never took care of you, huh?

Your Awesome Brother,

Shirako Takamoto

P.S-How do you like the headphones?? The color matches

the color of your car.


	26. Chp 26 Mushrooms

When I let Karma look at the letter, she smirked. "So much for Shirako being a problem. I bet you're loving him for this." When Karma sat the letter down and glanced toward me, she saw only an empty bed. I had already dashed out of there to go and praise Shirako for his "awesomeness".

_My own car! That was what the midnight blue car was for...Me!!_

Shirako was busy getting lectured at by Tezla. "Do you have ANY idea what you've done?? All our careful plannning on hiding this place will go down the drain! You expect me to just let you go and pick up Stacy at her home and bring her here?! What good would that do?"

Shirako glared at Tezla. "I didn't tell her how to get here or anything about what we're doing! She thinks this is an Auto Repair Shop for rich people and we're mechanics. Come on, it could work!"

Tezla frowned. This wasn't going anywhere."Shirako! This has nothing to do with Brooke! She-"

"THIS HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH BROOKE! I invited Stacy because of Brooke's sadness with being away from her friends! Stacy's her BEST friend!! Brooke deserves to have some _enjoyment_, however little she can have! Please, let me go and bring Stacy here! Brooke _needs _her to be with her now! All this stuff, it's difficult for Brooke to deal with right now!!"

Tezla pondered over this. _Shirako is being reasonable...he shows some major points on how this could benefit Brooke..._

"Alright, Shirako. You have my permission to go and pick up Stacy. When will you leave to retrieve her?"

Shirako muttered, "Nine. Tomorrow morning."

Tezla held back a laugh. "You may go, Shirako." Tezla turned his chair around, busying himself with some paperwork. Shirako was more than happy to be out of the conference room.

I searched frantically for my brother, feeling the happiest I had ever felt since my stay at the Acceledrome. Stacy was coming! Here! I loved my brother now.

As I raced down the hall, I ran right into someone. "Oops! My bad.." Instead of grabbing his/her hand to help them steady themself, I felt metal. What?

I looked at the one I had collided with. I gulped. The LAST person I wanted to see.

"Sorry about th-," when he noticed who it was, that mischievious smile of his spread across his face. "Hey. Pleasure bumping into you."

I glared at him. He snickered. "Alright, I give up."

He gave me a quizzical look. "Give up?"

I never stopped my glaring. "You never told me. How and why did you get that mechanical arm? If you didn't want it, why get it in the first place?"

He didn't wink or even . Instead, he glanced at the "arm", which now hung by his side. "Did Tezla ever tell you about Gelorem?"

I nodded. "Of course. He explained all about the Silencers and the Drones. He also said that Gelorem had been defeated. That the MM and the TEKU both stole into the Drone's Headquarters to rescue you. He said that they succeeded."

"He didn't say anything else about that?"

"No," I answered him honestly. Where was he getting at?

"While Gelorem held me captive, she was trying to make me spill my guts about where the location of the Acceledrome was. When I refused, her little drone friends decided to make me one of their own. They started with my arm."

I gasped. He didn't notice. "As I was screaming for them to stop, Gelorem kept asking me about where to find the Acceledrome. I really didn't want to betray them to her, but at some point I must have. The next thing I knew, they dropped me down into the floor and kept me there until they decided to finish me off."

A tear escaped my eye and slid down my cheek. I mentally slapped myself. I was so emotional! It was embarrassing!

I tried to brush the tear away as fast as I could, to hide evidence. I thought that I had succeeded, until he chuckled and said, "You really are a strange girl to be crying over me."

I parted my lips to answer him, but he walked off, heading for the Metal Maniacs garage. I glared at his back, since his face was turned away from me. Then, I softened. I imagined how he must have felt to sit through the torture of having your arm completely ripped off...I shivered involuntarily.

I wanted to yell out Wylde's name when someone lightly tapped me on the shoulder. I yelped and turned around.

Of course, it was my guardian angel, Shirako.

"Hey!" I held him in the tightest hug I could. "Thank you so much! I can't believe you did that for me!"

Shirako smiled. "Choking!" he gasped, laughing. I released him and he pretended to crumple to the floor. I rolled my eyes.

"Quit exaggerating Shirako! I'm serious! That was unbelievably nice of you...what happened?" I questioned, being sarcastic. His only response was to whack me lightly on the forehead. It throbbed.

"Ouch!" I exclaimed, rubbing my bruise. "You already left a mark there, remember?"

He smiled. "Again, sorry about that."

"When did you ever apologize before?"

"Oh, your right," he realized. "Well, I'm apologizing now."

"You are so-" I was cut off when I began to yawn. He chuckled at me.

"Sleepy," he finished, dragging me to my room. "You're in desperate need of some sleep!" He led me to my room, explaining the argument he had with Peter along the way. I groaned and rubbed my stomach. It was hurting something aweful.

"Brooke?"

I couldn't answer him at first. My stomach was on fire and my head began to spin. My throat felt as though I hadn't had anything to drink in days. I was having trouble breathing while my stomach was making me feel terrible. I almost slammed into the wall when I tried to walk into my bedroom. He quickly held me around the waist, wrapping my arm over his head. He led the way in, and I obediently let him.

I couldn't get to the toilet fast enough, it seemed to me.

My stomach had made a sudden lurch and I knew I was about to get sick. I darted for the bathroom. When I was able to lean my head in, I threw up._Oh, perfect_! I expected Shirako to leave me, but he followed me in. When he heard what I was doing, he didn't flee the scene. He actually stayed with me the entire time. Since my hair was long, it framed my face, and I kept having to toss it behind me. Shirako searched frantically through the bathroom cabinets. I was too busy to know what he was doing or even care. I just wanted my stomach to get back to feeling normal again.

"Got one!" Shirako exclaimed. I had no idea what he meant. The next thing I knew, Shirako was sitting next to me. He gently fixed all my hair back into a ponytail. _A hair tie. That was what he had been searching for_...

", not again-" I began, another wave of nausea hitting me full force. I leaned closer over the toilet.

Shirako never left my side. He had been rubbing my back. When I was able to talk, I questioned him on why he bothered to stay with me.

A hurtful expression crossed over his face. "Because. Like I said, I'm never going to leave you again."

_Man_, I thought. _When Shirako makes a promise, he sticks to it like glue_!

"By the way, what was in the meatloaf we ate at dinner today?" I asked, my voice cracking. I didn't really want to know, but it would help me understand why I was now so busy throwing it all up in the first place and why my throat felt like sandpaper.

"Um, there was onions, seasoning, crackers, and mushrooms."

I threw a frightened glance his way. Mushrooms! Oh, I was allergic to mushrooms!

"That makes sense," I answered, my throat burning all the while. I swallowed and tried again. "I'm allergic to mushrooms, Shirako. You better take me to Loni. She'll know how to help me."

In a way, he irritated me. He was just so protective of me. It was beginning to annoy the crap out of me. But, I was thankful of the way he was. He was my only joy here at the Acceledrome. The only one who really, truly, cared about me. I was about to hug him, but held back. Shirako noticed this.

"What was that all about?" he asked, completely oblivious. I looked down. "I-I felt like hugging you, but I was afraid I might accidentally throw up on you."

Shirako laughed at my words and my current expression. This eased the pain, a little.

"Alright. Up you go," he commanded, lifting me out of my crouched position. Again, he held me at the waist, letting me put my arm over his shoulders. My head started swimming.

"Shirako! Slow down, okay? I feel a little dizzy. Plus, my throat hurts so much. I feel like I can't breath.." I rubbed my throat, trying to take deep breaths at the same time. He tried to lead me down the hall, but I stopped him.

"I can't," I gasped, letting myself go of his waist and leaning against the wall for support. I couldn't really tell, but I thought I had gone pale. Shirako froze, not knowing what to do. I growled at him to hurry and bring Loni here. He understood and took off, leaving me there alone.

In a way, it was comfortable. No one bothering me or asking questions. But, I wasn't at all comfortable then. It felt like my stomach was being ripped apart and my breathing wasn't getting any better. I slid down the wall, too sick to even try to stop myself. I closed my eyes and wished I was somewhere else...

"What are you doing out here? Trying to find privacy?"

I groaned. My eyes snapped open as I regretted being where I was. There was no way I could run and escape this person, or act all angry with him as I always do. I just sat there, completely uncomfortable.

Wylde smirked at my expression of surprise. "You always get into the worst situations, huh?" Wylde asked, coming over to sit beside me. I didn't care if it hurt. I hated being talked to like that.

My throat burned when I replied, "My situation wasn't so awful until you decided to show up."

At about that time, Shirako arrived with Loni. When Loni took in my paleness, my gasping for air, and the way I held my stomach, her expression changed to worry and sorry for how I was so sick. They both rushed over to me to come and help me stand. I refused their help by saying, "No, it's fine. I can handle it."

I was wrong, as usual.

At about the time I raised myself to stand, my stomach lurched and I fell. "Oh!" I exclaimed, throwing my arms around in a circle to steady myself. I couldn't ,and I felt myself begin to fall backward. Before I hit ground, someone caught me by holding me from under my arms. I looked up to see Wylde there, smirking as usual.

"You never accept defeat, do you?" Wylde said, helping me to my feet. I glared at him.

When I was back on my feet, Loni and Shirako grasped both of my arms and led me down the hall.

Wylde followed. "Come on, Brooke. Just let me help you."

I thought for a moment. "There's one thing you can do." I smiled sweetly at him.

"Anything," he answered, smiling playfully back.

"Tell the cook to throw away anything that has to do with mushrooms." Then, Loni and Shirako led me into the infirmary, leaving a completely surprised Wylde behind me.


	27. Chp 27 Stacy

There was no other way to describe it: This year was going to suck.

I was fully dressed in a light blue and light green striped sweater. My blue jeans were a little worn, faded at the knees. I was very cold-natured. It was a good thing this huge place had an awesome heating system. Shirako had already gone to go and pick up Stacy at her home, me staying in my room to try and fix my difficult hair.

There were three reasons why this year was so going to suck: One, homework. Two, visions. Three, an annoying brother.

The one good thing about it, though, was that I could spend a few weeks with my best friend!

One, two, three...when I realized that I was counting out every time I brushed a side of my hair, I laughed aloud and sat the brush down. I was getting myself worked up, just because Stacy was going to be here!

Well, I had a right to be excited. I hadn't seen her in a couple weeks. Every day I stayed here at the Acceledrome was always around the two teams. None of them were even close to my age, although they were pretty interesting when they wanted to be. But no one knew me like Stacy. I met Stacy in third grade. She was the tallest in the class and I was the shortest. When she asked me to come and sit with her at lunch, I said "yes" out of politeness. We sat together and talked about anything, asking questions periodically. Questions like, "What's your favorite color?" or "Where do you live?" were asked during that lunch period. During our talk, I asked Stacy if she wanted to be my best friend forever and she promised she would be. We're now both Sophomores and still true to our word.

I grabbed my ipod, scrolled down the list and chose, "_Dance, Dance_" by Fall Out Boy. I started dancing to the upbeat tempo. I reached down and grabbed the brush again, lip syncing into it. My hair was flying all over the place. _No_, I thought. I stopped dancing. _Not good enough... _

I turned my ipod off, putting my Fall Out Boy CD in my stereo. A couple days ago, Peter let me go shopping for more clothes and such. I bought plenty clothes...and a brand new stereo.

"_Dance, Dance. We're falling apart to half time_." The stereo was blasting as I turned it up even louder. I thought, _what the heck? _and turned it up all the way. Since no one could here me over the music, I began to yell and sing in harmony to the music. My dancing increased, my head bobbing to the beat. I started jumping up and down, having the time of my life...

"We're here, um..." Shirako tried to remember the girl's name. He cut the engine and opened both the doors by the press of a button.

"Stacy," she finished, taking hold of the door to slam it shut. Shirako shook his head.

"Step back," he ordered, at the same time pressing the button again and shutting both doors.

Stacy squealed in delight.

"That's so cool!" she shrieked, clapping her hands and hopping up and down. She took hold of her duffle bag and slung it on her left shoulder, half skipping, half running into the Acceledrome.

"Brooke! Brooke!" she screamed, cupping her hands around her mouth. Shirako, being so used to listening to music at a dangerously ear-deafening level, didn't mind the yelling. However, he heard Nolo scream something in Spanish as Porkchop's hearty laughter echoed through the room. "What's the matter, Nolo?" Shirako heard Porkchop ask. "Scared of one of Brooke's friends?" He heard an abrupt scuffle and a wrench being thrown, landing with a thump! on the floor.

Shirako smirked. _Yeah, Brooke. You really do know how to choose your friends..._

As they passed each driver, Stacy showed all her teeth in a dazzling smile and waved whole-heartedy at whoever happened to pass. When it came to where Stacy noticed Wylde, she accomplished the same routine...until she noticed his "arm".

She whistled. "Woah!" She ran up to him. He seemed deeply surprised of the certain visitor. She ignored his uncomfortableness and chose to stare at the mechanical arm.

"That is _so_ cool!" Stacy exclaimed, examining it more closly. Wylde didn't know how to react to Stacy's outgoing and persistent attitude. Shirako laughed at him.

"I'm Stacy," Stacy said, flashing another brilliant smile and holding out her hand. He just looked at her, dumb-founded. Stacy gave an impatient sigh.

"Look." She took hold of his hand and enveloped it in hers. She shook her hand. "See? That's how you shake hands." Stacy let go of his hand and ran back to Shirako, but not before giving Wylde a playful wink before leaving him.

"Wow, talk about being speechless. Or is he naturally that stupid?" Stacy pondered aloud, Shirako chuckling as he lead her to Brooke's room.

"I think both," Shirako answered, setting his headphones atop his head. Before he turned them on, he heard Stacy scowl.

He looked at her, confused. "What?"

Stacy kept a grim expression on her face, replying, "You're just as bad as Brooke. It's a wonder you're not brother and sister."

_Clink_! Shirako's headphones slipped off his head. What Stacy heard next shocked her. She heard him _laughing_. Stacy just looked at him. "How is that so funny?" Stacy questioned, setting her hands on her hips.

"Nothing, it's nothing," Shirako remarked, picking up his headphones and setting them on his head again. "Just that you're exactly right."

"_How can I decide what's right, when you're clouding up my mind_?(I was listening to "Decode" by Paramore. I was still busy dancing, and I spun my fingers in a circle around my head when it said, "clouding up my mind")." I was having a blast, having a dance off in my room. I was so happy, I started jumping up and down on my mattress, screaming "Woohoo!" and "Yeah!" as I did so. On the instrumental part of the song, I played an air guitar, still hopping up and down excitedly. By about that time, Stacy and Shirako decided to come by and dazzle me with their presence.

Boy was I dazzled...and surprised.

I stopped jumping, but not before they noticed what I had been doing. Stacy held her hands over her ears, screaming "TURN IT OFF!!!"

Shirako was too much into a laughing fit to help out. I let myself bounce off the bed, letting myself feel gravity again. I stumbled to my desk and turned the stereo off. I turned around, gazing in the mirror long enough to notice how messed up my hair had become from letting it shake all over the place as I was dancing. I grimaced at my reflection. _Oh, brilliant. My first impression has been splendid_!

I turned and saw the way Stacy was looking at me. She was shaking her head with her hands on her hips, trying hard(not hard enough) not to laugh. I smiled.

She did the most impossible thing:she stuck her tongue out at me!!

"So much for telling me you had a long lost brother! Honestly Brooke! I'm your best friend! You should tell me about these things...especially when he's so cute!"

I rolled my eyes, letting them fall on Shirako. His face was blood red. I laughed at him.

"Shirako," I said, patting him on the back. "Don't worry about my airhead of a best friend. She's only kidding."

He smiled, but still seemed uncomfortable. As he left the room, Stacy said, "Who said I was kidding?"

When Shirako finally left, I slapped Stacy in the arm. She turned toward me. "Ow!" she screamed, rubbing the reddening area. "What was that for? He really _is_ cute!"

I laughed. "Hey, I don't care! He's _my_ brother, so paws off! I will NOT have you flirting with him!"

I shivered. A sudden image of them making out appeared. NOT a good mental picture there! Stacy just raised a hand and shook off my answer, like swatting away a fly.

"That's fine. I was too busy flirting with someone else!"

I gaped. She already had the hots for someone? Well, that wasn't that much of a surprise. I expected as much from her. I just wondered who it could be...

"...he's just so gorgeous and strong..." Stacy was saying, gazing at the wall with a look of a love-struck teenager(cause that's exactly what she was). I shook my head.

"Alright. Which guy?" I asked, tossing her duffle bag onto the bed from where she had set it down. She gave me a hurtful expression.

"What?" I questioned, looking back at the bag.

Her bottom lip quivered as she began to pout. "You never said "Hello" or even give me a hug or anything!" She faked being upset, crossed her arms, and turned to ignore me. I sighed, enjoying my friend's way of being difficult. I ran over to her and hugged her, saying "Hello" over and over again. She laughed and hugged me back.

"Better?" I asked, giggling.

"Better," she agreed, flopping herself down on the end of my bed. I sat too, exhausted from all that dancing. She noticed.

"At least you're still the same, Brooke," Stacy declared, turning to face me. I gave her a quizzical frown. "Oh?"

Stacy just stared. "Yeah. I think the last time I saw you, you spilled coke all over me. Remember? You cut yourself afterward with the broken aluminum. Did that wound ever heal?"

She reached over to turn my hand over. I gasped and hid it under my sweater sleeve. She looked at me as if I had grown two heads. I shrugged, acting bored.

"It's healed, don't worry about it," I answered, trying to desperately change topics. One hit me.

"So, you never told me who it was you flirted with today," I remarked, elbowing her playfully in the ribs. She giggled like a five year old.

"Okay. He never said his name, but who cares? He's so muscular with like, a huge black tattoo that travels all around his arm. Oh, and he has a mechanical thingy on his other arm. It's so freaking awesome!"

I was silent as the grave. _Crap. Not Wylde. Anyone but Wylde_.

"Well? Don't you agree? Isn't he dreamy? He has such gorgeous eyes..well, he probably does. He was wearing shades so I don't actually know...I was rating them all on how cute they were, and I give him a 10 baby!"

I laughed. She was so impossible sometimes. "Stacy, his name's Mark Wylde. Just, don't call him Mark. Call him Wylde. He'll only answer to Wylde. Don't ask me why."

Stacy's eyes shown with interest. Stacy was just so overactive, I worried about her sometimes.

"Stacy, calm down. It's only a guy."

Stacy giggled. "Alright. But I call dibs!"

Stacy then bolted upright, heading for the door. I recovered my shock enough to ask, "Where are you going? You just got here!"

Stacy turned to look at me. "I'm starving! I'm going to go get something to eat."

I saw through her little fib. "At nine in the morning? I highly doubt it. Besides, you go by a tight schedule. You aren't going to eat breakfast in another.." I glanced at my watch. "Twenty minutes."

She faked being confused. I gave her a cut-it-out look. Her shoulders fell, defeated. "I was planning on spying on a certain someone-"

"Wylde?" I finished, interrupting her. She grinned and nodded her head. I rolled my eyes.

"You're on your own, then."

Stacy looked hurt. I was about to tell her to stay and listen to music with me, when the intercom came on.

"Attention all drivers:very important meeting in the conference room. I repeat:very important meeting in the conference room now."

I groaned and took hold of Stacy's hand. "Come on," I demanded, dragging her with me. She yanked her arm away. I turned toward her.

"Not looking like that you're not."

Oops! I had forgotten about my hair disaster. I ran back into my room, searching frantically for a hair tie. I found one and tied it all back as fast as I could. It was a messy fix but I had no time to try it again. Stacy frowned. "Hm, no no. Not good."

Stacy then set to work filing through the stuff she brought in her duffle bag. I started to tap my foot, impatient.

She laughed. "Tame it. Here," she tossed me one of her hats. Stacy was known for all the hats she owned. There were at least one hundred of them total(no exaggeration.). This one matched my light green and blue striped sweater perfectly with it's solid baby blue color. There was a "Halloween" lettered B on the front. The visor part was traced with jewels, all silver. I grinned.

"Happy Friendship Day!"

I smiled and gave her a rushed hug. I gently placed the hat on my head, turning it a little sideways, admiring her handywork.

"Friendship Day?" I asked, laughing.

She shrugged. "Well, we are together again today. It's official. Friendship Day is now our very own holiday!"

"Thanks. Now, let's go!" I gripped her hand more tightly and dashed out of there, running toward the conference room. Stacy trailed behind me, laughing.

"Great. You are all present," Tezla said as Stacy and I dashed into the room, slamming the door behind us. I gazed around, embarrassed. Everyone was staring at me, and I hated being the center of attention. I quickly pulled Stacy next to me, pushing her in front.

"This is Stacy. She'll be staying with me for a few weeks," I rushed through my sentence, hating any attention turned towards me. Stacy smiled again and waved. This time, though, she blew everyone a kiss and laughed.

"Oh, yeah! The hyper chick!" Wylde exclaimed, leaning back in his chair. I gulped. _Oh, no! He did not just call her a chick_!

The last time someone called Stacy a "chick", that person got shoved into the outdoor fountain in the middle of the garden at our school. I reached for Stacy's shoulders to hold her back, but I wasn't fast enough.

"Stacy! Wait, don't-"

Too late.

Stacy reached Wylde before anyone knew what was happening. Wylde had been leaning back in his chair, shoes resting on the top of the table. Perfect opportunity for Stacy.

She grinned at him. "Nice to meet you, too. Oh, by the way. Didn't your mom ever teach you any manners?" Then, she shoved his feet off the table and Wylde fell over backward. He hit the floor hard, the sound making me grimace.

"No sitting your feet on the table. It's not very polite, you know," Stacy added, smiling and skipping toward me.

Almost everyone there was laughing then. I heard someone get up to help Wylde, but I didn't dare chance a peek behind me to see who that someone was. I was afraid of the glare Stacy and I would recieve from him.

Shirako and I locked gazes. When he knew he had my attention, he used his index finger to draw invisible circles around the side of his head, a gesture that meant Stacy was crazy. I smirked at him and nodded in agreement.

I watched silently as Stacy turned in her chair to smile sweetly in Wylde's direction. I heard

Wylde's enraged answer to that.

"WHY YOU LITTLE-" Wylde began as I turned slowly in my seat to face him. His face was full of hatred. He wasn't watching me, though. He was glaring at Stacy.

"Tame it Wylde!" Tork shouted, standing up out of his chair. He took a step toward Wylde, ready to intervene if the Metal Maniac decided to pick a fight with her. Secretly, Tork admired Stacy for her bravery in stepping up to Wylde.

Fortunately, Wylde only grumbled to himself and sat back down in his seat(after he picked it up off the floor and turned it upright). Stacy managed to smirk and wink in Wylde's direction.

"Stacy. You're pushing it," I whispered in her ear. She looked at my frightened expression and grinned.

"I know," was all she said. I rolled my eyes and focused on Peter.

"Alright. Now that you all know of our "visitor"(snickering), you all need to know of our plans for Brooke's education."

I chanced a peek at Stacy. She was just staring straight ahead, a confused expression etched across her face. I gulped. _Our plan better work_...

"You all know that Brooke's parents are allowing her to stay here with me for the next couple months and that she'll be studying and doing her homework while she's with us. So, we'll all have to pitch in and help her out. She'll be studying American History, Literature, Science, Biology.."

The list was endless. I just sat there, bored out of my mind as Peter was explaining who was going to help me with what subject. Stacy, however, was acting the total opposite.

"What the-that's a LOT of subjects! You're going to be studying _that_ much boredom locked in tiny books? I'm glad i'm not you!"

I laughed at her.

"What?" she asked me, clueless.

"You may not be me, but you'll be helping me!"

As I was busy chuckling at her lack of appropriate enthusiasm, Peter finished his lecture. I sighed, glad that it was finally over.

Stacy poked me in the ribs. "Hey, Brooke. Who's the hot-looking guy with the cute accent and jet black hair?"

I looked at her, wide-eyed. "Oh, girl. You bounce back fast!"

She only smiled.

"It's Nolo, by the way...and he's so out of your league," I added, leading her out of the conference room before her hormones got too out of whack.

As Stacy and I were heading back to my room, Stacy decided to race off down the stairs. I turned in time to see her turn the corner. I groaned.

She can't stay in one place, can she? I thought. "Stacy! What the-where are you going?"

After I stood there for another second, weighing my options, I decided to go find her. It was a big place. I was afraid she'd get lost somewhere. I ran faster.

"Stacy?" I searched frantically in different rooms, passing the kitchen, a bathroom, the Teku garage...that's when I spotted her.

In my haste, I almost missed her. She was talking animatedly to Shirako. I ran towards them.

"Stacy! There you are! I was wondering where you'd-"

At that exact moment, I recieved the shock of my life...Stacy, when she saw me approach, mouthed "I'm sorry" and did the weirdest thing...

She disappeared!!

"Stacy? But, but you were right here!" I waved my hand in the place where she had been standing only moments ago. I hit her on accident.

Then, she appeared again, rubbing the side of her arm where I smacked her.

"Evil! That makes the second time you smack me in the arm! I'm so filing a restraining order on you!"

I was too shocked to reply to her idiocity. Instead, I just stood there, gaping at her.

"What? You just, and I only-" I looked at Stacy, who had a guilty expression on her face. Shirako looked as stunned as me.

"That was what I was trying to tell you, Shirako. Michael is my dad," Stacy tried to explain. I didn't understand at first...

_Michael? Hold on...in my vision, Vert's father mentioned a man who had figured out how to make himself transparent. His name was...Michael! But that means..._

"No, Stacy!" I gripped her shoulders. I stared straight into her troubled blue eyes. I searched them for some confirmation. I found only guilt.

"Stacy, why are you telling us this now? Why do you have that power to become transparent? so far as I know, only the people working for the Silencers can do that-"

Crash! I gasped, surprised for, like, the fifth time today. What was going on now? I was dealing with the biggest shock of my life! What could possibly happen that would stun me even more than I was now?

I never even had enough time to scream before someone grabbed me from behind and led me away from Stacy. Shirako, as far as I could tell, was grabbed like I was. My captor held his hand over my mouth. I couldn't move, couldn't scream, couldn't look behind me...

Before they dragged me back into their purple van, Stacy ran up to me and held out her right palm. I would have gasped if the hand wasn't covering my mouth in the first place. Because, etched across her palm in thick glowing purple letters, was the word "Silencer". I stared, wide-eyed, confused by all that was happening. Before the van doors closed shut behind me, I saw Stacy mouth "I'm sorry" again. The last thing I remember was being shoved helplessly in the back of an oversized van, crying for not knowing what was happening, what was going to happen, and what had already happened...

_Stacy_! I sobbed, trying hard not to get sick. _What have you gotten yourself into_? 


	28. Chp 28 Captured

"...almost there...about girl?...no, that's irrelevent..."

I groaned, groggily trying to shake myself awake. As I opened my eyes, I realized that I was lying flat across the floor of the van. While I stretched, most of me making cracking sounds, I took the time to analyze my surroundings.

Dark...small...cold. We were traveling to...somewhere. I got up and flexed. _Good_, I thought. _No broken bones or fractures. So..._I glanced toward the front of the van. Between me and the other two seated in the driver's side and passenger's side was a(two inch thick maybe?) sheet of tinted glass. Because of the tinting, I could only assume that they were both male, wearing weird white and purple suits. They were talking in whispers to each other. I couldn't comprehend anything in their conversation which made me irritated. There were no windows from where I was held, so I only guessimated that we were traveling at about eighty miles per hour.

I noticed how the conversation became a little heated by the tone of their voices. The driver, who seemed to be in his twenties, began speaking in a much louder tone.

"But Major!" the driver whined, glancing at the other man. "How can the girl possibly be of any use to us? She's only-"

The other man cut him off by holding up his right hand. He seemed completely calm, replying, "She would be a tremendous help to us, Michael. You and I both know how useful her ability will be for us..our spy did an excellent job discovering this."

I shivered. I knew enough to figure out what they were talking about now. It was me. They wanted to use me, and they found out about me from their spy. I knew only too well who that person must be...Stacy, I was sure of it.

"We're here. Don't stop until we've entered, Michael."

The driver mumbled something unintelligable, nodding his head as he said it. I got really nauseous then. It took all my will power not to start shaking or to throw up. Now, there's a mess I wouldn't want to leave behind!

"Watch yourself, Michael," I heard the major warn the driver. By about that time, we began a steep incline. I, being my uncoordinated self, fell over and completed a backward somersalt. What stopped me was the van doors in the very back.

"Ouch!" I shrieked as I banged the back of my head against the door. It was made of metal and not the best element to cushion a fall, either. I rubbed my head, murmuring "I'm such an idiot" to myself.

As I was trying to untangle myself, I felt the van stop. Someone opened the doors suddenly, and I found myself tumbling out of the van and hitting the hard floor.

I heard a man's throaty laughter at my clumsiness. I turned to glare at the sound.

It was the one I only knew as "Major". He, now that the tinted sheet of glass wasn't obscuring my view, was blonde. He seemed to be in his late thirties maybe, but even so he was very able-bodied. He was wearing some type of racing suit with two colors(guess what they are? You got it: white and purple). His helmet was in his left hand, and he extended his right out to me. I wanted to bite it and hear his satisfying yelp of pain, but instead I ignored him and stood without his help. He shrugged.

"Well, you do have a right to be upset," Major assumed, slamming the van doors closed. He acted at ease, completely fine with the kidnapping he just did.

I snorted. "Sure. Just upset, huh? I'm way past upset. I'm furious with you. Why would you-"

Major's laugh cut me short. "Brooklynn, please save all your questions for later."

I frowned. How was that so funny? Did he expect me to keep quiet the whole freaking time? And why in the name of chocolate did he just call me Brooklynn? "Brooke," I corrected him, dusting myself off and straightening up to my full height.

Major turned to glance at Michael. "Stacy wasn't lying when she said that Brooke was easy to talk to, because she never ran out of things to say."

Michael smiled, chuckled, and nodded in agreement. I was fuming. How dare Stacy turn against me! I thought she was my friend and it turns out that she was only using me. _I must be a really bad judge of character! _

These men were getting on my nerves. I balled my hands into fists, trying hard not to lose my temper with them. _Cool it_, I cautioned myself. _Find out the facts first, then you can run for it._

Major and the driver both started to walk away, heading towards the double doors to my left. I frowned. _What should I do? Follow them? Will they ask me to? What will I gain by doing just that? If I follow, I'll probably either be told of what the heck is going on, or tied, gagged, and held captive...or both_. _I could just run, but to where?_

I turned and noticed that we had only just made it into this big...place. There was a huge wall of metal, which I assumed as being the door. _Okay. I can't run, but I could try and hide_.

I skimmed the place with my eyes. There were people in similar attire walking here and there. The place was too full of witnesses to make a clean getaway or try to hide somewhere.

While I took a few seconds to weigh in my options, the two men stopped and turned to watch me. They saw me standing there, unsure of what to do. The Major smiled kindly at me. I didn't return the gesture.

"Come along, Brooklynn," Major said, waving me forward. "There's much to explain and so much more to do."

I scowled, but did as he said. What could I do? I was trapped. If they decided to tie me, throw me in a boiling pot of tar, and cover me in feathers, there was nothing I could do to stop them. My only hope was that Shirako was fine. I saw them take him in a diffrent vehicle, but I prayed that he was able to escape them...

"Stacy? What's up?" Shirako asked the young girl as she ran over to him where he was busy giving Bassline a new tire. He was mentally pleased with himself for remembering the girl's name.

He sat the wheel down and turned to study her. Stacy's face was strangely pale and distraught. Shirako couldn't figure out what was wrong. She paused when she stood right in front of him. Then, while she began to wring her hands, she blurted, "I know you won't believe this, but Brooke's in danger, Shirako."

As soon as the words came out of her mouth, she gasped while her bottom lip trembled. Shirako just stared at her, dumbfounded. _Brooke, in trouble? What kind of danger could she be_-

"Please, here me out, Shirako! There's this guy, my father, who invented a way to make you become invisible. I didn't believe him at first, but he made me put on this weird suit and stuff. He pressed a button on the sleeve and _Bam! _I literally disappeared! I-"

"Stacy!" someone yelled from across the room. Shirako turned and watched Brooke sprint into the garage and head towards them. "There you are! I was wondering where you'd-"

By that time, Stacy did exactly as she was explaining to him about...she made herself transparent! Even when Shirako was preparing himself for it, he was still surprised to see it happen. He noticed that Brooke was just as freaked out as he was. He took comfort from that fact.

He parted his lips to speak, but Brooke cut him off by shrieking, "Stacy? But you were right here!" Brooke waved her hand in the place where Stacy had been standing, and Shirako heard the echoing smack as she hit Stacy.

"Evil!" Stacy exclaimed, reappearing and rubbing an area on her arm. "That makes the second time you've smacked me in the arm! I'm so filing a restraining order on you!"

Shirako shook his head, trying hard to clear it. Now she's making jokes when she just remarked of Brooke being in danger? _What's up with this girl? And she shows us of her ability to disappear? Why? Why now_?

"What? You just, and I only-" Brooke tried to say, staring wide-eyed at her best friend. Shirako just stood there motionless, trying to remember how to think straight.

Stacy turned back to Shirako. "That's was what I was trying to tell you, Shirako. Michael is my dad."

Shirako gulped. He didn't like where this conversation was going. _Oh, man! I need to go tell Tezla about all this!_

Shirako pondered over the situation at hand. _So, Stacy's father is working against us, that means..Stacy must be here as a-a spy or something! Oh, just like Brooke! As I pointed out before, Brooke _really_ knows how to pick out good friends!! _

Crash! An enormous sound of falling metal against metal echoed in the Acceledrome. Shirako chanced a peek at Stacy. She had a guilty expression on her face.

_Crap! This isn't good...I better tell Broo_-

Someone suddenly grabbed Shirako from behind. He struggled to get away, only to be held even tighter. His captor held both of Shirako's arms behind his back with one hand, the other clamped firmly across Shirako's mouth. They began to pull him backward.

_What the_-

Shirako's heartbeat accelerated as he witnessed his own sister being victim to the same cruel treatment. The man which dragged her away was wearing some type of purple and white suit, so far as Shirako could tell. He struggled in the death grip which held him from behind.

It didn't do him any good. His captor was too strong to be thrown off by his feeble attempt to break free.

Shirako, before he realized what was going on, was thrown helplessly in the back of a van. He was directly across from where Brooke was also tossed into a similar van. He watched, unwillingly, as Stacy, _the traiter!_, shown Brooke something on her hand and sprinted towards the van he was held in. Before he had a chance to say something to her, she jumped into the van and slammed the doors closed behind her. Now it was just Stacy and Shirako,alone, in the back of a van traveling to who knew where.

The first thing that Shirako was able to do was glare in Stacy's direction and snap,"Traiter!" right at the girl. As the van sped away, Shirako sat down, deciding it best to do so in case their was a bumpy ride later.

He planned on asking a million questions next, but he heard, disbelievingly, Stacy whimper softly and collapse onto the floor. She propped up her knees, sat her head between her legs, and begin to sob as quietly as she could.

Shirako didn't know what to say to that. He simply sat there, trying to decided what to do. He snapped out of his wanderings and muttered, "What? Now you're suddenly upset about what's happening to Brooke, or do you feel _that_ bad for having to stay in the back of a van with me?"

Stacy stirred. She lifted her head slightly, staring straight into Shirako's angered face. She softened, deciding to sit cross-legged instead. She sniffed and wiped a few tears off her face.

"No, it's just-oh this is so aweful!" Stacy exclaimed, a fresh flow of tears streaming down her cheeks. She ignored them as she struggled to reply with a clear voice.

"I've been Brooke's best friend for like, ever! I depended on her and she depended on me. But then my-"

Shirako snorted. "Some friend you turned out to be," he interrupted her, crossing his arms against his chest.

Stacy scowled. "Don't interrupt me. I'm trying to explain it to you," she snapped at him, finally regaining her composure.

"Like I was saying, I've been Brooke's friend forever and now, my stupid father got himself hired as some company's scientist or something! He created that stupid way of becoming transparent, right? He expected me to help them out and be a freaking spy! A spy! ME!!!"

Stacy gulped in some air, continuing with her story a tad bit softer. "Anyway, I refused, but he said I had no choice. That they needed me. So, he drags me there to the silencers, and they start to ask me all these bizarre questions like, "Have you ever been trained in Self Defense, Survival, CPR, or any sport which involves being active?" I only said, 'Yeah. Cheerleading.' They got a kick out of that. Even though the Major was disappointed with me not being trained to fight and stuff, they kept me there to work for them. Like I was their robot or something!!"

Shirako listened in silence. He now knew how Brooke must have felt when she was forced to work for her uncle.

"...and so then, they sent me off on a mission to discover anything I could about Tezla's drivers. The only problem for them was how I could be there without arrousing suspicion. Then you-" Stacy pointed an accusing finger at Shirako, "you just happen to send me a letter asking me to come visit Brooke, my best friend, at the Acceledrome! You idiot! My father saw the letter and alerted them. They had their reason now for me to be there undetected. Thanks a lot, Shirako!"

Shirako's eyebrows pulled together as he frowned at her. "My fault? This is all my doing, huh? Well, _excuse me _for wanting Brooke to be happy! If you hadn't realized it just yet, Brooke has been through almost the exact same thing! She was taken away and forced to work for her uncle! She wasn't even given a choice, really. So _sorry_ for wanting to care for my sister's happiness...but you wouldn't know anything about that kind of stuff. My apologies."

Stacy sniffed again and fought back a sob. "I didn't realize-oh, I didn't know what I was getting myself into, Shirako! I didn't even know Brooke was involved until I recieved your e-mail. The others didn't know about her, either. They told me to find out exactly why she was staying there. Of course, none of you would have told me the truth, so I had to snoop around. As I had rushed into the Acceledrome for the first time, I over-heard the big man with red hair mutter, "Brooke and her crazy visions. I wonder how long we're going to have to put up with her, now that she's going to stay and try to find Vert for us." I immediately told the Silencers about what I had heard and they decided then and there that she was too much of a threat to keep in Tezla's possession, so they decided to capture her. I really didn't mean for this all to happen, Shirako! Really, I didn't!"

Stacy gripped Shirako's arms and shook him once, making sure he was paying attention. He nodded numbly and watched her slump over. She let her head rest in her hands as she cried again. This time, Shirako scooted closer and began to rub her back gently. She froze and stared, wide-eyed at him. He let his hand fall back.

"What?" Shirako asked.

"What are you doing! You should be yelling at me some more and hating my guts! I just stole my best friend away just to please my dad!" Stacy turned and held her hands on her hips.

"Well?" Stacy commented when Shirako didn't reply. "Start screaming at me! Go ahead!" she added, throwing her arms into the air.

Shirako's expression softened. He realized what was going on in Stacy's perspective. "No, I'm not upset with you anymore, Stacy. It really isn't your fault as much as it's the Silencers. They might not have forced you, but what choice did you really have? I-" Shirako gazed at the floor. "I apologize for my yelling at you before. I was just a little upset."

Even though she tried to stop herself, Stacy grinned at him. She so desperately wanted to feel deep regret and anger with herself, but Shirako was so determined for her to feel alright. He was succeeding. The tiniest hint of a smile danced across the girl's lips. "You know, I don't blame you one bit about that last part. You, um, just got kidnapped...remember? I think that entitles you to some bitterness and resentment towards someone..." Stacy's face fell. "Especially if that someone is me."

Shirako didn't agree or laugh or anything, really. He simply said, "I most certainly feel no outward hostility towards you, Stacy. I saw the way Brooke's face lit up like the fourth or July when she saw you arrive today. You made my sister so very happy. I don't believe that Brooke would act so pleased if she was meeting someone who was a traitor to her. Yes," Shirako agreed, nodding his head a bit, "you did sell her out to the men in the 80's suits, but I'm almost positive that Brooke will forgive you for that."

When Stacy didn't respond, Shirako turned to watch her. Stacy was trying hard not to burst into tears again. She was shaking her head, muttering, "I'm no friend to anyone." Shirako got a little annoyed then. He turned her head towards him.

"You made a mistake, Stacy. You listening? I know that! .!! Everyone makes mistakes! It's apart of life! It just so happens that this certain mistake may cause us all to ruin our entire lives...hey, at least you know you'll never make the same mistake twice."

Stacy laughed and lightly swung a fist at him. He dodged, and a sudden pain twisted in the center of his stomach. He realized what the pain was instantly:This interaction reminded him of the fights him and Brooke had been in. The pillow fight. The time when he caused Brooke to slam her head into her car's top frame. He smiled a tortured smile. Her car. A car she never got a chance to even take for a drive yet.

Stacy frowned. "Is everything alright, Shirako?" Stacy scooted a bit closer to him for easier talknig distance. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

Even though he knew that that was EXACTLY what he wanted to do, he decided not to mention his thoughts to her. Instead, he murmured, "Yeah. Why is Brooke allergic to mushrooms?"

He knew the question was stupid, but he couldn't think of anything else to say to cover up his silent mullings.

Stacy giggled. "Weird question, but I'll answer it, nonetheless. It started in first grade. Everyone was supposed to bring some kind of food to school which you could eat raw. Brooke chose to brings carrots. Anyways, someone in the classroom brought mushrooms. After one bite, Brooke complained of a sore throat, and she started to hyperventilate a second after. The teacher got her to the nurse who, thankfully, understood exactly what was going on. She gave her some type of shot and Brooke's breathing became a lot more even. She was sent to the hospital a few minutes later."

Even though Shirako was listening at the beginning, his thoughts began to wander in a different direction. He thought about how surprised Brooke had been to finding out she had him as a brother. And how the pillow fight began a short while afterward. He grinned, enjoying the memory. Stacy saw his absent-mindedness and quieted after that. She left him in total silence the rest of the way there...

"Woah. No wonder you all are trying so hard to hide this place. It's HUGE!!" I shrieked, my head sliding backward as my eyes traveled all the way up towards their headquarter's huge ceiling. The major chuckled behind me.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

I shrugged, trying to seem unimpressed. But, because I can't even lie convincingly to myself, he saw right through my fib.

"Brooklynn. There's someone we want you to meet before we talk," the Major said to me, motioning into a separate room on the opposite side of the room. One of my eyebrows rose in utter confusion.

Instead of show my questioning expression, I rearranged my features to appear as if I was angry. I didn't have to act long, because I could feel my anger bubbling up inside me then.

"Before we talk? I never said I'd speak with any of you. If you haven't already figured this out yet:I-don't-want-to-be-here!" I spoke through my teeth, trying hard not to slap him as I do Shirako when he gets on my last nerve.

He calmly replied, "Will discuss the matter further. For now, I suggest you take a seat in," he gestured with his right thumb, "that room right over there."

I glared but obeyed. what choice did I really have? I was always stuck in a world where I never have a choice anymore. First with my parents. Next with Peter. Now with this!

I stormed into the room, slamming the door closed behind me with a bang. I muttered to myself, calling the major a couple names as I slid aimlessly into the nearest chair. Someone chuckled nearby. My head snapped up towards the sound.

Someone, sitting in the chair diagonally across from me, was a blonde-haired guy with a spikyish hairdo. His face was very familiar. It was only after he spoke did I remember immediately who I was staring at.

"Oh, you left out Moron. Nice call on Brain-dead. Didn't think of that one," the guy commented, choosing the chair directly across from the one I sat in.

I simply stared at him, dumbstruck. It took me a fraction of a second to realize what he was talking about. Apparently, he heard everything I had said about the major as I walked into the room. I blushed like mad.

"Vert?" I asked him, although I already knew it was him without hearing his answer. He smirked at me, as if to confirm my question.

"In the flesh. For the moment," he added with a snarl. I ignored the end of his comment. Instead, I simply stared in disbelief. I stared for so long that he fidgeted, a little bit uncomfortable. I snapped out of it at once.

"Oh! sorry," I apologized, leaning slightly away from him. "It's just a bit weird seeing you like this." I blushed again. "That's not what I mean. What I meant to say was, it's weird seeing you here...and not in a vision."

Vert laughed quietly. "Yeah, my dad told me about you and your "special gift." Personally, I think you're both lying."

I smiled. "Really? Would you like some proof?"

He smirked at my sudden question. "Sure. But there is no way you are possibly going to make me believe that you have some kind of "visions"."

I shrugged, as if to say that I might or might not be able to convince Vert or not. But I was beyond convinced that I would be able to.

"Alright. Here it goes..." I let a certain vision fill my head, and I spoke the whole conversation I heard between Vert and his father. I hadn't realized I had closed my eyes until they snapped open. His expression was overcrowded his wonderment and awe. This time, it was my turn to sit and fidget in my chair.

"Oh! Sorry," he apologized. We both couldn't stop ourselves then. We busted out laughing. We didn't really know why. Maybe it was because it sounded so bizarre when he repeated what I had said just moments before. Maybe it was just because we hadn't laughed in a while and that comment helped to break the ice. Either way, we both felt an immense relief fall from our shoulders after our sudden laughing fits were finally silent.

"Okay. My apologies, Brooklynn. You weren't kidding, huh? Visions. Heh, isn't that something? I just can't believe my dad would kidnap you just because he thinks that your power is way to important for Tezla to be in possesion of."

I stared in complete horror at his remarks. Me? He thought that I was too much power?? I snorted. "Your dad doesn't know me at all, does he?"

Vert snickered. "I guess not."

Shirako felt the van tilt dangerously upward. He imagined they were traveling up a steep incline to the headquarters. Stacy was busy sleeping in the corner of the van.

Shirako rolled his eyes at her. _Of course. Only Stacy could actually sleep through a situation like this and on such a bumpy road as this, too_.

Finally, they were there. The van doors opened and sunlight streamed into his eyes, causing him to be momentarily blinded. As his eyes adjusted, he frowned. the palce was more massive than he expected it to be. Before he quite realized what was happening, he had been dragged out of the van along with Stacy. Once they woke and drag Stacy from the van, she frowned and scowled at them.

"Hello? It's Stacy, remember?"

Shirako gritted his teeth. _Keep your cool, _he reminded himself_._

They were led, quite forcefully, into an empty room. There was two plates of food on the table in the room, both piled with chicken, salad, fruit, and an assortment of vegetables.

Shirako frowned. _How nice of them to think about us this way_, he thought sarcastically. He told Stacy of their sudden hospitality and she scowled.

"They're retards if they think that they can suddenly act all innocent when they just kidnapped people. Well, I don't give a crap about them. If they're actually going to give us food, we might as well enjoy it now."

Shirako simply nodded. As they chewed aimlessly on their food, Shirako silently wondered how any of them were going to escape the Silencer's Headquarters safely. Then, quite suddenly, a plan was slowly forming inside Shirako's thoughts...


	29. Chp 29 Reunion

..it was a long shot, no doubt, but Shirako was very determined-an emotion which was commonly responsible for all the things that Shirako ever decided to do. Shirako was the type to always do exactly as he promises to. This time, he thought to himself, _Brooke. You may not be able to hear me at all, but believe me. I will get us out of here, even if it means that I have to stay behind by helping everyone else escape...I'll do it, if that's what it takes_.

Shirako sighed, and pushed the empty plate foreward. He was sitting directly in front of Stacy, who was busy playing with a strand of her hair. Shirako rolled his eyes. _Of course. She can also be entertained with just a strand of her hair! _

"Woah, wait! Tezla stole you away?" Vert asked me, shifting into a more comfortable position.

I nodded. "Pretty much. Well, actually, I was tricked by him into going to the Acceledrome with him. Then, soon after, I was told that Peter was my dad's brother, and-"

"Really? Huh. Now I see why I saw a resemblance of someone on your face. It was Tezla's."

I just shrugged. I was getting a bit freaked out. Talking to someone I saw in a vision before...it was a little bit unsettling. Nice, but freaky.

Vert caught my mood and smirked, a crooked smile quickly forming across his face. I blushed again.

"So, Brooke...are you still trying to decide whether I'm real or not?"

I glared this time. "I don't believe that that's any of your business...but yes. I am."

Vert laughed. He carelessly propped his feet up on the table and crossed them. He dangled them dangerously close to my face. I scowled at him.

"Ugh! You're about as bad as Shirako!" Then, I expertly shoved Vert's feet off the floor, and his shoes made a loud echoing boom as they smacked into the metal floor. Vert chuckled.

"So, you close to Shirako or what? When I was there, he was never big on speaking."

I nodded. "Yeah, you could say we're close. I mean, hey! We better be close, for we had to catch up on all the missed report cards, breakups, you know. That sort of thing."

Vert raised an eyebrow. I laughed lightly, and the response eased some of the tension I was feeling.

"He's my brother, Vert."

Vert stared, wide-eyed at me, his mouth gaping open and closing like a fish. I counted the seconds of his silence. _One, two, three_...

"Woah. I really didn't see that one coming," Vert mumbled, still a bit taken aback from my response. I smiled a little.

"That's alright. I was just as shocked as you when I found out. Don't worry, though. Shirako never knew about me, either. So, don't think that he was keeping anything from you or anything, because he wasn't. We found out about it after my first vision-gone-bad-scenario that occured a few weeks ago."

Vert's confusion was undeniably strong. I then, slowly and without leaving anything out, told the story of my life after I first entered the Acceledrome. Vert stayed completely calm through it all. He got a bit ticked over the whole best-friend-blows-other-friend-for-father's-sake, but I didn't say a thing. I didn't blame Stacy for what she did. Like she really had a choice, now that I really thought it through. Of course, she'd really have to work to get that friendship back together, but it could happen. At least, I secretly hoped it would.

"Shirako, what are you doing? We're supposed to stay here...SHIRAKO!"

Shirako was beyond listening to Stacy's nervous voice. He just wanted one thing:to find Brooke and Vert. Then, hopefully, he could somehow get them all back alive.

"Stay if you want, Stacy, but I'm going to go looking for Brooke."

Shirako left the room, and it wasn't even two seconds later that he could hear Stacy's silent footfalls behind him.

"No way, Shirako. I'm with you in all this."

Shirako turned to her and nodded. He could live with that. Two against...well, the odds weren't pretty, but it was better than him having to do this alone. They quickly scaled the end wall and stopped at the corner.

"Stacy,'' Shirako whispered. She came forward slowly.

"Check and make sure that no one is watching us."

Stacy gave him a quizzical frown. He whispered ugently, "Just trust me. Check. Please." His words were a little less than pleading.

Stacy never gave it a second thought after that. She expertly dodged around the corner and out of sight. That was when Shirako really became worried. He had second thoughts about his suddenness to letting Stacy leave to scout the place. What if she was turning him in just now?

Before Shirako had a chance to give it another thought, Stacy suddenly darted around the corner and back to him in the next instant.

"There's no one near us at the moment, but-"

"Good," Shirako interrupted, determination clearly showing through. He walked quickly foreward, head held high. Stacy silently followed him.

He noticed a door to his left. It was the only room which seemed to contain any activity at all. He knew he was taking a long shot, but he really didn't care at the moment. He darted into the room and slammed it closed behind them.

He slowly turned around to see....

Brooke's shocked gaze interlocking with his own. Vert was sitting across from the brunette, apparently having had a conversation with her a moment ago. But Shirako didn't look away from Brooke at the moment. He looked her up and down.

_No broken bones or bruises that I can tell...oh, there's a bruise on her forehead. Hmmm. Could be nothing, though_.

Brooke broke off from her concentration and noticed Shirako's gaze was fixed on her forehead. She scowled.

"Shirako! Oh, honestly! I'm totally fine, alright?? Stop worrying."

Vert stared between the two, frowning. Finally, he muttered, "Did I miss something?"

Finally, they all seemed to realize the extra company. Stacy was leaning awkwardly on the far wall, looking a bit nervous now.

Vert saw the girl and immediately stood. He took up a defensive position in front of Brooke.

Stacy frowned.

"Oh, come on! I'm not going to try and kill her or something! Gosh, you are so pushy!"

Stacy then ran toward Brooke, apparently trying to hug the girl. Brooke took a step back. Stacy's smile faltered. She looked as if she was about to cry again.

Brooke, despite her original intentions, slowly grinned at Stacy's reluctance and stretched out her arms. Stacy smiled one of her dazzling smiles and hugged Brooke as tight as she possibly could.

Shirako couldn't help but inch closer to his sister. She was alive..and completely in a good mood. _Yep, that's Brooklynn for you_, he thought, chuckling. Brooke heard him.

"Oh, Shirako! I forgot you were there," Brooke teased, struggling out of Stacy's hold to get next to her brother. She walked up to him and tried to get to eye-to-eye level with him. She had to stretch on her toes to do so. He took an involuntary step back, stunned.

"Shirako," Brooke snarled, saying his name in accusation. "Mister I'll-stay-behind-if-that's-what-it-takes-to-save-the-others. What were you thinking? You are apparently a bit dizzy from the ride here. I AM NOT going to leave you in the care of these dimwits." She crossed her arms and returned to normal height.

Shirako frowned, then...his eyes became as big as saucers. She heard his thoughts from earlier!

"But, I," Shirako began, "I didn't really think that you'd be able to hear me then. I was just trying to communicate with you.''

Brooke snorted. "Right. As far as communications go, buy a cell phone. Believe me. It won't be as awkward as telephathy to send messages back and forth to each other. That can be accomplished with instant messaging."

Shirako laughed and hugged his sister fiercely. When she tried to squirm free, he only held her more tightly.

"Shir-can't-breath!" He finally released her, and she gasped theatrically for air. He rolled his eyes.

Vert shook his head. "You guys are the strangest pair of siblings I've ever seen in my entire life, do you realize that? You joke about your visions as if it's a normal action."

Brooke frowned. "Well, it's pretty normal for me."

Shirako, Vert, and Stacy burst into laughter at her comment. Brooke didn't see it as being funny at all, but they thought differently. She shrugged and yawned. Shirako checked his watch. Twenty minutes till twelve.

"Brooke?" Shirako questioned, getting the sleepy girl's attention. She turned slowly to listen to him.

"We'll probably be in here a while, so you might as well get comfortable. Come here."

Brooke was beyond care at the moment. She was too out of it to really understand what anyone was really doing. She shuffled slowly toward him, her eyelids blinking slower than usual.

Shirako had got up from his chair and sat against the far wall. He put his legs together and left them completely straight. He let her lay her head against his legs. After she was leaning on him, he took off his jacket and draped it over Brooke's shoulders. She curled in, letting her hands rest, folded, underneath her cheek. She was out in about five seconds.

Vert and Stacy just stood there awkwardly.

Vert took in the sibling's interaction with silent amazement. They really depended on one another much more than they even realized. Their action just then confirmed Vert's silent musings. They really cared for each other, maybe even more than most siblings ever cared for the other.

Stacy skipped to Brooke's side and laid her head against Brooke's stomach. The sleeping girl stirred, but didn't wake.

Vert decided to sit next to Shirako.

Not that he had anything against the girls, but he didn't really know them very well. And anyway, he still didn't trust Stacy that much, considering she was the one who suggested having him locked up in this room. He yawned, despite himself.

"Awe..that's so cute. It's too bad that 'cute' doesn't mean a thing to this mission or to us in that matter."

My eyes flew open. As I blinked rapidly for a few moments, I finally remembered where we were...and I instantly wanted to go back to sleep.

It was Michael. Stacy's father, who had been speaking. The Major and he were standing right at the door: Michael scolding for Stacy's closeness to me, it seemed. The Major keeping his calm and steady gaze on me. I looked away from him quickly, watching and listening to Shirako's even breathing, instead.

"Michael," the Major said in a commanding tone. Michael flinched, but otherwise kept his cool. I wanted to backhand them both.

"Michael. Please retrieve Stacy for me. She needs to update her new findings with us. Oh, and send a few plates here, so our newest members can have some refreshments before we begin."

With that being said, Michael ran foreward and gripped Stacy's shirt collar and heaved. He yanked her up, much to her knowledge.

"Huh? Wha-AH! Ouch! That hurts, you know!" Stacy yelled aloud, waking the sleeping Vert and Shirako.

"Well, you should have thought about that before you became friends with that witch over there!"

His burning gaze turned to my face. I was so pent up with fury at that moment that I didn't even realize what I was doing until after it had happened.

With fury blinding my actions, I jumped to my feet and swung my right fist down hard into his jaw.

"Ah! You little-"

"Witch?" I interrupted, guessing his remark to my reaction. I took a step toward him.

"I am NOT a danger to your daughter, you got that? Have you ever heard her complain about me before, about anything? I didn't think so! So go ahead. Call me witch one more time and try to guess my next reaction to that!"

My hands balled into fists, just begging to connect with anything breakable on the man. The Major chortled with laughter.

"It seems as if miss Brooklynn has a bit of a temper, no? Just like her father, John. He know, gave us quite a fight a time back.."

My hands hung limp. My father? He knew my father?

"No matter. We can work with that. Come along Michael. Stacy."

And with that, Stacy, Michael, and the Major left the room, Michael making a rather rude gesture with his finger as he passed me. I stuck out my tongue.

The door slammed shut behind Michael and then it was just Shirako, Vert, and me.

Of course, I loved Shirako and Vert-Vert not so much, but that was only because of the fifteen minute talk to actually get to know the guy. I was alone in a different sense:I had no parents, my best friend's a fraud, and now I would have to go back to school and be a year older than the kids in my grade!

It was so unfair.

I hadn't realize that I had started crying until someone's finger lightly brushed a tear away. I jumped back, a bit startled.

"Oh, sorry Brooke. I didn't mean to frighten you," Shirako apologized, letting his arm drop back down to his side. He smiled a warm, reassuring smile.

"What's on your mind?" Shirako asked me, still keeping his distance in case that was what I wanted.

It wasn't.

I slowly walked up to Shirako until I was about a foot away. He stared into my eyes, searching for some sign as to my reason for crying.

I couldn't help myself:I threw my arms around him and held him close. He took a step back, stunned.

Then, I felt his hand rest against my head and his other hand lightly pat my back. I cried soflty, trying to muffle the sound as I pressed my face into his shoulder. He never said a word, and that was wise of him.

An embarrassed cough brought me out of my break-down. _Oops_, I thought. I had completely forgotten about Vert.

I, hesitatingly, let go of Shirako and wiped my eyes quickly. I turned to Vert and tried to smile at him.

"I'm sorry, Vert. I'm sorry about that emotional scene. I am a bit upset, you know. With the whole my-best-friend-sends-me-to-the-enemy and I-see-visions thing. It can get a little weird for me."

Vert laughed. He walked up to Shirako and mock punched his shoulder.

"Wow, Shirako. This one's a bit too girly for me. I can't believe you would actually want to hang out with this one. She's a bit unstable."

Rather than blush like mad like I would normally do(besides, that reaction would give Vert another thing to add to my 'girly' self), I swiftly took a step toward Vert and whacked him on the side of his head.

He wasn't expecting that.

Vert rocked a little from the impact, and shook his head to clear it. I laughed, and so did Shirako. Vert turned stare increduloulsy at me. I winked playfully at him, and it was his turn to blush.

"Girly, am I? I dare you to call me that one more time and see what happens!"

As if to prove my point, I took a step toward him and he flinched. I smirked, and dropped my hands.

"Vert," Shirako murmured, between breaths of air, "Didn't you see what she did to Michael. Of course, his remark was far worse than yours, but even so. You really should have realized by then how Brooke is. She doesn't take too kindly to being made fun of."

Vert nodded slowly in agreement. I rolled my eyes at their exchange. _I wasn't _that _bad...was I_?

Suddenly, my eyes were drawn into another was fidgeting in a seat, surrounded by the Silencer's HQ workers. Michael was glaring daggers at her. She cringed at the accusation in his eyes.

"You what?! You don't want to tell us anything? What, now you've suddenly felt a bit more feeling for the Brooke girl? You only became her friend under my orders!"

"But, daddy, I-"

"Don't call me that, Stacy! You are definitely no daughter of mine," Michael snapped at her. Stacy's bottom lip quivered.

"Michael," the Major warned, putting a restraining hand on the man's shoulder. "Calm."

Michael stopped shouting, but his anger never fully ceased.

"Daddy! Yes, it was because of your order that I started to hang out with her, but I quickly became her best friend, and she mine. Because of you, I found a true friend in her that I've never discovered in anyone else that I know. I will NOT give her up to any of you."

Stacy ended her little speech with a nod, as if she was reassuring herself that she was doing the right thing.

"Stacy," the Major tried to reason. "Think of all the things we could accomplish with her power! Her father was talent enough for Tezla, considering John could sense when any danger was coming. He was very useful to Tezle, but now his daughter can be useful for us."

Stacy scowled. "Brooke isn't a prize to be one for the better team! Brooke _wants_ to be with her uncle, not here! Not that you all gave her a choice..."

Stacy closed her eyes and tried again. "Her power isn't very useful, anyways. it's not like she can just choose to think of someone and then she'll suddenly see what they're doing! It just happens out of the blue. Besides, she won't be able to see whatever you ask her to. It doesn't work that way-"

Her words were cut off when Michael sent his hand crashing against her cheek. She cried out, rocking in her chair a bit from the impact.

Her own father had just slapped her across the cheek.

Stacy's eyes welled with tears as she rubbed the reddened area.I cringed as the sound of his hand slamming into her face echoed off the room's walls.

Then, I saw Shirako's face. He was frowning, with a hint of panick in his eyes. When he saw me come to, he exhaled in relief.

"Brooke, what did you see?" Shirako asked, gripping onto the sides of my arms.

I blinked, aware of reality again. I replayed the vision to Shirako and Vert by explaining all that I had seen.

When I told of the part where Michael slapped his daughter, Shirako cursed under his breath while Vert hissed his frustration. I agreed with both of them.

"Shirako, Vert? I have a plan to get us out of here, but it'll be a long shot..."


End file.
